Noise of Regalement
by The Light's Refrain
Summary: Your life. Another life. Sanity. Humanity. How easily these are taken for granted. In the end, what must you sacrifice for a power you don't even want? COMPLETE
1. The Easy Way Out: Uzuki vs Kariya

_Hiya! Happy New Year! (Well, it's a few days late, but still...)_

_I have no idea where this sucker came from XD. What I do know is that this fic will be about 6, maybe 7 chapters long. However, each tale will be set in its own AU enviroment, though there will be a thin plot thread connecting all these. It'll make more sense in the second chapter..._

_This first story (which was supposed to be the only story...oh well) revolves around Uzuki and Kariya. Though set in an AU world, there's no real difference between that world and the canon world. Why call it AU then? Because the following stories will have circumstances messed with to varying extents._

_Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends With You. Which is just as well. Too much drama there as it is. _

_Enjoy!_

The Easy Way Out

"I don't need anybody else!"

The orange-haired Reaper, aka Player hunter, aka killer, aka _enemy_, stared at the pink-haired girl in disbelief. Then he smiled.

"But then how will you fight the Noise?" he asked, gesturing to the complex symbols floating in the air around them, which were actually portals leading to a world of monsters. "If you don't have a partner, then you can't use any psych pins available to you."

"Sure I can!" she announced proudly, locking her violet eyes with his russet ones. "I just use my shadow as my partner. That's what you're doing, aren't you?"

"Oh? You can manipulate and pact with your shadow even though you're only a Player?" questioned the lanky Reaper, unwrapping a lollipop and then sticking it in his mouth. "Impressive. You could be quite a Reaper someday. If you win, that is."

"…I could become a Reaper?" she asked.

"If you wanted to," the death-dealer answered, leaning against the graffiti-adorned wall. "Though I suppose you're more interested in returning to your old life on the real ground. Most people don't like staying dead."

"…Eh, I don't really care," the violet-eyed girl replied. "I don't really remember my life before this. I just kinda showed up here."

"Oh?" the Reaper with the golden-tinted glasses replied. "Must have been your entry fee then."

"Huh?" she questioned, her violet eyes showing confusion. "Hey, aren't you supposed to send a bunch of Noise to attack me or something?"

"…I don't feel like it," he said, whisking the looming Noise portals away with a lazy wave of his hand.

"You don't feel like it? Aren't you a Reaper?"

"Yeah…" he answered, yawning and stretching his wings. "But I would only get 1 kill point for you. Why bother with you when I can attack any pair of connected Players and almost automatically get 2 kill points? It's not worth the extra effort."

"You…" she began, before her face twisted into a snarl. "You think I'm weak, don't you?! Just because I've formed a pact with my shadow instead of with another Player! Well, I'll tell you right now I'm much more willing to trust my shadow with my soul than some random person off the street!"

"Well, it does concern me some," the carrot-head Reaper answered casually. "Controlling both yourself and your shadow in battle can be draining even for a Reaper, since it's just recycled energy over and over. How do you, a Player, plan to survive the whole game living like the snake that eats its tail?"

"Well I will!" she declared defiantly. "I don't need any whiny partner! You can bet on it!"

"Oh? Can I?" responded the Reaper, smirking. "Alright then…if you do make it through by yourself, then I owe you three bowls of ramen."

The pink-haired Player blinked.

"…What?" she asked dumbly.

"Well, it doesn't have to be ramen. That's just what I like. Just three free meals of whatever you like."

She still eyed him like he was from another world. In a way, he was.

"….Fine then! If I can't make it all the way though by myself, I'll…I'll…" she began, rustling her hair. "I'll become _your _partner, dammit!"

The Reaper bit through the stick of his pop. He spit out the remains.

"What?! You can't do that! It'd be a violation of the Game rules!"

"Then it'll be whenever I become a Reaper," she answered. "'Cause even if I can't make it all the way by myself, I'll still make it! Even if I have to put up with some baby or jerk for part of the way!"

The Reaper just stared at her. And then he laughed. She just glared at him.

"Alright, it's a bet," he finally answered. "This should be entertaining. I look forward to the results."

He turned his back to her and began to walk off.

"Later."

He turned a corner and was gone.

IIIIII

He had been right, of course. In the middle of Day 5 of the Game she formed a pact with a frightened, whiny blond who had just lost his partner to a Noise attack. Eiji Oja or Ocho or something like that. He wasn't too bad. After all, they managed to win the Game.

She didn't remember much about the ceremony that made her a Reaper. She did remember the dumbfounded expression on the carrot-head's face, when she walked up to him with Reaper wings and a half-won bet. In fact, she took a picture of him with her cellphone's camera.

It had been awhile since then. Sometimes it felt like it was forever ago. Other times it felt like no time at all.

IIIIII

"Get up."

"Ow…"

"Get up."

"Ow…"

"Get up!"

"_Ow…_"

Her eye twitched.

Uzuki Yashiro was not a patient person. She would be the first to admit it. Thrown hairbrushes and toothbrushes lay around her partner, who still showed no interest in leaving his bed in the middle of the living room. Why was his bed in the middle of the living room? She had already claimed the only bedroom for herself, that's why. And no, she wasn't going to share her bed with anyone else, especially not with a guy, even if they did have a pact. Besides, he preferred to watch TV in bed anyway, being the sloth he was.

Yes, they shared the same apartment. They didn't have much of a choice, considering they were linked by their pact. A bond between souls didn't do much good if they didn't stay close to each other. Not that they needed their pact fully activated all the time, but if something happened…

And it wasn't like she was actually 17 anymore. That was just how old she was when the old abandoned apartment she'd been living in literally fell in on her head. That's what she got for trying to avoid rent. Nor was Kariya really 19 years of age, for the same reason. She wasn't sure how he ended up dead.

"If you don't get up, Kariya, I'm gonna eat the rest of the ramen," she stated, walking back to the bathroom. "Every last bit of it."

She heard him groan groggily and toss the covers aside. She smirked.

_Works every time._

Uzuki began to comb her short pink hair again, an effort that had been abandoned briefly when she was trying to get her colleague up. She saw her own violet eyes look back at her as she brushed out the last tangles. Her bat-like wings, more like black tattoos that floated above her back than actual wings, fluttered restlessly.

Sleeping in until noon was never Uzuki's style. She was a Reaper with places to go, ambitions to realize, and Players to erase. For that reason she liked to start her day at eight o' clock, when most of her kind were still snoozing.

Her cohort Reaper had no such ambition. In fact, Koki Kariya was the type to be content to sleep until three. At least, he would have slept that long if Uzuki let him, which she never did.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kariya rummaging through the table next to his bed, probably trying to find his gold-tinted glasses. His orange hair was draped all over his head and shoulders. Uzuki still didn't know how he styled all that hair to stand straight up, but she suspected it took lots of hairspray and hair-gel, and possibly some glue. His wings, much smaller than Uzuki's, flapped languidly.

"Hey Uzuki, have you seen my parka?" he asked.

"Try the kitchen or the living room," she suggested, putting on some lipstick.

"Ah, never mind. It was in the closet."

"The closet? What was it doing there?"

"I dunno."

IIIIII

Despite appearances and personality, Kariya was strong. For a Reaper in the lowly Harrier rank, he was extremely strong. He could erase almost any troublesome Player or Noise with ease. If he wanted to, _want _being the key word. Kariya hardly wanted anything. He didn't even want a promotion to a higher Reaper rank. It was something that puzzled the ever-striving Uzuki to no end.

"Why _don't_ you want to move up in rank?" she asked him one day, as they watched new Players scamper about from their usual perch on top of the 104 Building. Occasionally the Reaper duo sent out Noise to attack them. Any Players that were erased by them or their Noise would add to their kill point total, which would extend their lifespan.

"It's more fun at this level," Kariya replied casually, twirling a half-eaten lollipop in his hand. "The higher you go, the further you get from The Game and the fun."

"Well yeah, I guess," Uzuki answered, grinning as she watched a newbie Player screaming his head off as he fled from some Dixiefrogs. She wondered who had been the one to name all the Noise after different types of music. She guessed it was some bored Reaper officer, or possibly a bored Composer.

"Besides," Kariya added, eyeing his lollipop. "Have you ever known any sane officers?"

"Do you know any sane Reapers, period?" Uzuki answered, eyeing the russet-eyed Reaper next to her. "C'mon, haven't you ever wanted to strut around on the higher levels and boss the lower Reapers around?"

"Not really," he responded, as a Player below dissolved into static. "Ah, got one."

"About time," Uzuki replied, smirking. "Alright, got another one over here."

"Anyway, becoming an officer is not as simple as reaching a certain power level or Player kill count," the carrot-head continued, sticking the pop into his mouth. "To reach officer status you have to discover your Noise form."

"The ability to turn into your own monster," stated Uzuki, stretching her arms and wings. "I still don't get how that works. I mean, I've seen officers transform and fight in their Noise forms, but I still don't get how they work."

"Well, no one's sure exactly how they work," admitted Kariya, the pop in his mouth distorting his speech. "I know that you have to pass a certain physical and emotional limit in order for it to activate, but those limits vary for each person. Of course, if you get a promotion, the higher-ups speed up the process for you. But it's still the same process."

"And you have to draw off your partner's energy when you transform the first time, right?"

Two Players below were engulfed in blue light below, the sign of a pact forming.

"…Yeah," Kariya replied, watching the connected Players fight off some of the Noise. "But it's not like you can instantly activate it just because you really want it right then, though people who want Noise forms usually get them first. So you'll probably get yours before I do."

"Huh? Don't you want a Noise form?" questioned the violet-eyed Reaper, curling a strand of her hair with her finger. "I mean, don't you want to know what kind of creature you'd be and what powers you have, or at least what your new wings would look like?"

"No," he stated flatly.

Uzuki blinked at his blunt reply.

"…Why not?"

"It's too much of a hassle to get it."

Uzuki scowled.

"Breathing is too much of a hassle for you."

"Oh I know. Good thing I'm dead."

The pink-haired Reaper groaned.

IIIIII

_Why are we doing this again? _Kariya asked boredly, his words echoing in Uzuki's head.

One of the advantages of a fully activated pact was telepathy. This was especially useful, since the two of them were fighting in different parts of the Noise dimension and had no other way to communicate.

Right then Uzuki chose to ignore him, however, as she fired several shots at a speeding white vulpine with nine golden tattoos for tails. The red-marked Boss Noise, a Progfox, took two hits to the shoulder but kept running.

Most Noise fell under the command of Reapers, but not all. Boss-class Noise like the Progfox were one of those more unruly types. Fighting these Noise weren't necessary, especially for Reapers, but erasing such Noise sometimes wielded powerful or valuable items. That was Uzuki's reason for fighting it.

The pink-haired death-dealer felt a stab of pain in her shoulder, although she hadn't been hit by anything. She knew that her associate Reaper had been taken a blow instead of her, as she felt some slight frustration flow from him.

"Kariya! Be more careful, dammit!" she yelled, even though she knew he would be hearing her thoughts rather than her shouts. "It's my health as well as yours!"

The Reaper with the gold-tinted glasses made no reply, but she did feel a vague sense of annoyance trickle over to her.

"Fine, be that way," she grumbled to herself, though she was sure Kariya could pick up on her irritation. "Now where did that-"

She heard the creature howling behind her, its figure shining white.

**_Ah crap, it's gonna fire a big one! Kariya-_**

She felt a sudden burst of power from her colleague. The glowing Noise suddenly dissolved into static.

Uzuki sighed, both out of relief and out of aggravation.

**_Kariya, whatever you did…why didn't you do that earlier?_**

_I didn't feel like it._

Uzuki's irritation rose.

She felt amusement from his end.

_Besides…_

_**Besides what?**_

_I sympathize with Boss Noise. I like to let them have a good fight before I erase them._

_**Huh? Why? They're just stupid Noise like the rest, aren't they?**_

She felt numbness creep across her skin, the sign that she and Kariya were about to leave the Noise dimensions.

Kariya answered with feelings of amusement, and of…sadness?

_Don't worry. You'll understand later._

IIIIII

Reapers were native to the Underground, or UG, but they could visit the Real Ground, or RG. However, they couldn't take their powers with them, so neither Uzuki nor Kariya had their wings when they were in the RG. Due to these limits, they rarely visited the RG, and then only for a good reason.

To Uzuki, going to the RG to get her butt kicked in a child's pastime did not feel like a good reason. Naturally it had been Kariya who had accepted the offer.

"Alright!" exclaimed Shiki, a dark-haired teenage girl who was one of the few to clear The Game. "I won!"

"Hooray for you," grumbled Uzuki, as she picked her pins off of the floor. She was never good at Tin Pin, and losing eight games in a row was souring her mood. The never-ending flow of rap songs blaring in the arcade was getting on her nerves too.

Former Player Beat, though, loved the (so-called) music, and the muscular teen was break-dancing to it with a big grin on his face. Even Uzuki had to admit he was good. His little sister Rhyme, also a survivor of The Game, was watching him nearby and smiling.

She glanced over to Kariya, who was playing Tin Pin against another ex-Player, Neku. Somehow the boy's hair was even more orange than Kariya's. From the peeved look on her partner's face, she guessed that he was getting creamed too. Uzuki felt a little better, though she felt more amusement than pity for her fellow Reaper.

"Wanna play again?" asked Shiki.

"…Do I have to?" groused Uzuki.

"Well…no," the girl answered, though she looked disappointed. "But that's okay. You wanna chat for awhile?"

"Sure. I can't leave until they're done anyway," responded the violet-eyed female, gesturing to Kariya's and Neku's Tin Pin game.

Shiki sat down and began to sip her orange soda.

"So…Neku got you pregnant yet?" asked Uzuki.

Shiki spit out her drink.

"O-Of course not! We haven't even-" she protested, her face turning pink.

"Aww, but I thought you two _loved _each other," Uzuki teased, grinning.

"We do! We do! It's just-" she babbled, before taking a deep breath. "Well, what about you and Kariya, huh?"

"Me and-" Uzuki began, before she felt her own face turning red. "…Are you kidding? We're just partners. I don't even call him by his first name."

"Oh? What's his first name?"

"Koki."

"Well, why don't you call him by his first name?"

"Uh…I dunno," admitted Uzuki, holding her chin and looking up at the ceiling. "Nobody else calls him by his first name, so I never have either, I guess. I don't think he really cares either way."

"Why don't you try it, then?"

"Try what?"

"Calling him by his first name."

"…Why should I?"

"Well… Koki's easier to say than Kariya," said Shiki, cuddling her Mr. Mew toy and smiling. "Besides, he's your partner, right?

"Well…"

"Hey, Neku," she heard Kariya say rather loudly, his russet eyes fixed on her. "Do you hear what the girls are saying about us?"

"Huh?" Neku replied, turning to Shiki and Uzuki.

Both girls froze. Uzuki hoped her face wasn't turning red again.

Kariya shifted his attention back to the game, and knocked Neku's pin off the board with his own.

"I win."

"Huh?!" the other carrot-head exclaimed, his gaze whipping back to the now-empty board. "…You cheater!"

"You're the cheater. You use nothing but Gatito pins," Kariya replied nonchalantly. "Well, I do believe we have outstayed our welcome, Uzuki. Shall we go?"

Beat was lying flat on the ground, exhausted from his urban dancing. Rhyme was waving a hand over his face to make sure he was okay.

IIIIII

_…Get out …_

IIIIII

The tail of the Neoclassical Drake sent Uzuki flying into a wall.

"Dammit," she hissed.

_You okay down there Uzuki?_

_**Yeah, just barely.**_

Uzuki despised Taboo-class Noise. Not only did Reapers no control over them whatsoever, they often went out of their way to attack them. This wouldn't have been such a problem if the black-and-gray monsters weren't so difficult to erase.

"Take this!" she yelled, firing several beams from her gun.

The blasts exploded on contact, cloaking the tattoo dragon in smoke, but then a series of black fireballs shot out of the haze. She wove through the dark rain of flame and fired a point-blank shot at the dark wyrm's head.

"There!"

_It's not dead yet. I'm still fighting it down here._

"What?!"

The smoke cleared to reveal the Taboo Drake very much alive, snarling.

**_But how did it-_**

It snapped its mouth open and fired a series of black fireballs that hit the violet-eyed Reaper dead on.

_Uzuki!_

Before she had time to get back up, the Drake pinned her under one of its clawed feet.

_**Ah crap.**_

Its mouth snapped open again.

**_Crap crap crap crap…_**

_UZUKI!_

The pink-haired Reaper felt a surge of power on her partner's end, as well as a surge of anger. She noticed the dragon above her flicker.

But it wasn't enough to take the Taboo Noise out.

Uzuki screamed as she was burned by another barrage of flame. She heard Kariya yell in pain on the other end.

**_Damn…must be over my limit if Kariya's feeling it that bad…if only I hadn't used up that damn healing pin earlier…_**

She felt a sharp pain in her side, and realized that the dragon must have struck Kariya in the other dimension.

_Dammit…_

The Taboo Drake was charging another attack above her.

_**Kariya-**_

Uzuki felt his anger melt into alarm.

_BASTARD!_

The sudden explosion of power astounded Uzuki. The Taboo Drake was yanked off her, the black-and-gray Noise being thrashed and shocked by an unseen force. Or almost unseen, as Uzuki caught a few glimpses of her infuriated cohort, his body lit up by voltage. The black-and-gray monster was finally destroyed with a last burst of lightning.

Uzuki couldn't help but stare at where the Drake Noise had been.

_…Well, that was a close one, huh? Made me swallow what was left of my pop._

She took a deep breath.

Kariya…Yes?

**_WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT EARILER?!_**

_Well…wasn't sure if I had it in me, to be honest._

**_Bull-_**

_Oh, would you look at that? It left behind some shadow matter._

**_Seriously?! That's rare stuff!_**

_Sure is._

**_Allright! Then it wasn't for nothing!_**

…_Yeah…Whew, but seriously…I think I overdid it. Can we call it a day?_

…_**Sure, let's call it a day.**_

_Now's let's..._ _Ah crap._

**_What?_**

_No more pops. I've run out._

IIIIII

The next morning Kariya was up unusually early. In fact, he was up before Uzuki was.

"Huh? You're awake already?" she said, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and her short hair in frizzy disarray. "Damn, this must be a record."

"I know," he replied tiredly, his own orange still down and flowing over his shoulders. "…Been up for a while."

"Well that's fine by me," answered Uzuki, pulling the toothbrush out of her mouth. "I need to go shopping anyway, and there's probably still a bunch of Taboo Noise floating around, so it'd be better if you came with me. Besides, I know you're out of pops, and you won't last long without those, will you?"

"…Alright. Just let me get ready," he answered, slipping into the bathroom.

"We'll get some ramen while we're out too," Uzuki continued, hunting for her hairbrush. "I know I owe you some from the last few Tin Pin games anyway."

"Fourteen bowls, to be exact," he said through the door.

"…Rub it in, will you?"

IIIIII

Shopping never excited Kariya. Uzuki didn't know many men that cared for it, really. The carrot-head would linger outside the shops until the pink-haired Reaper was done, unless it was food shopping. As Uzuki didn't care for people looking over her shoulder while she shopped, as Kariya tended to do whenever she shopped for chow, she preferred it that way.

But this was different. Out of all the times when she went on buying sprees, even those times where she stayed in one store for hours, Kariya had never gone far. He might ask her if she got lost, fall asleep outside, order takeout food for himself, or even challenge random Reapers and Players to Tin Pin, but there had never been a time where she exited a shop and he just _wasn't there_.

"Kariya! Where the hell did you go?!" Uzuki shouted, prowling the swarming streets for her stray partner. "Dammit, where _is _he?"

She glanced at the people around her in the Scramble Crossing, all passing by without noticing her. Well, of course they wouldn't notice her. Some of them passed right _through_ her. She was a Reaper, and Reapers existed on a different plane than regular humans. These humans would have to die before they could see her, or be ex-Players.

Kariya was nowhere in this crowd.

Why was she so anxious anyway? Let him wander off and do his own thing. There hadn't been any Taboo Noise out like she had thought there would be.

It wasn't like they did everything together. They would often hunt separately on the earlier days of the Game, as they could pact with their shadows, and they each had their own groups of Reaper friends they hung out with. Sometimes they didn't see each other until they returned to their apartment around midnight or later.

So why was this sudden disappearance bothering her so much?

_He's been acting kinda strange today. Been real quiet. Now he just wanders off to God knows where. I wonder what's with him._

"Yo, Pinky!"

She startled, and then turned around with a snarl.

"My name is Uzuki, meathead."

"And my name's Beat, man!"

"Will you two cut it out?" interrupted Neku, the ex-Player's headphones blaring techno music at full blast. She wondered how he managed to hear anything else.

"Ugh, whatever," the violet-eyed death-dealer groaned. "What are you guys doing in the UG anyway?"

"We felt the urge to kick Noise butt, man!" Beat replied. "We can't stand by while the Noise harass every day people, yo. It just don't feel right."

"Uh huh," Uzuki answered boredly. "Hey, you guys haven't seen a certain lazy bum named Kariya around, have you?"

"Lollipop? Yeah, we were just with him," answered the muscular skateboarder, adjusting his oversized black cap. "But man, he was actin' weird, yo."

"What kind of weird?" questioned Uzuki.

"Well, he was like…" Beat began, looking up to the sky and rubbing the back of his head. "Like…"

"Spaced out?" Uzuki ventured.

"Ferocious," Neku finished for his partner, folding his arms.

"Yeah!" Beat agreed.

"Ferocious?" the violet-eyed death-dealer questioned, raising an eyebrow. "He's been like a zombie all day."

"It was freaky, man," Beat continued. "We saw him at the Hachiko statue, just staring up at the sky and stuff, so we went over to see what was up. But then he jus' _glared_ at us and snarled, like some rabid dog or somethin'. It looked like he meant business, so we buzzed off. Like I said, it was freaky, man."

Uzuki folded her arms and glared at the ground.

_That doesn't sound like Kariya at all._

"…Are you sure it was him?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was definitely him," Neku confirmed. "Anyway, we thought maybe you knew what his problem was, but I guess not."

"I've been trying to figure out what his problem is all day," she admitted. "Do you think he's still at Hachiko?"

"Considering that we just left there, probably," replied Neku.

"I'll have a word with him then," Uzuki stated, gliding past the skateboarder and music-lover without even looking back at the ex-Players.

IIIIII

He was just where they said he was, his back leaning against the podium of the Hachiko statue. The shadow of the loyal dog figure darkened his features. The orange-haired Reaper looked calm enough to Uzuki.

"There you are!" she called. "Kariya, you lazy bum, get over here!"

There was no reply from the Reaper in the golden glasses, not even a look in her direction.

Uzuki's eye twitched.

"_Hey! _Over _here_!"

Still no response.

Grumbling, Uzuki made her way through the sea of people to her partner.

"I've been looking all over for you! At least leave me a text or something if you're gonna run off like that!"

The orange-haired Reaper kept his gaze on the ground. In fact, he didn't seem to realize she was there. His brown eyes had a glassy look to them.

"Hello? Earth to Koki Kariya," she added, waving a hand in front of his face. "Helloooooo?"

There was still no response, not even a blink. His wings shivered.

Uzuki furrowed her brows. Kariya may have been lazy, but he wasn't the type to zone out like this.

"Well well well, isn't this interesting?"

Uzuki spun around. It was like the gray-haired teen behind her had materialized out of thin air. Uzuki recognized him as Joshua, yet another survivor of the Game. He didn't hang out much with the other ex-Players, though; in fact, he seemed to spend all his time in the UG rather than the RG. Kariya always had his suspicions about him, she recalled, but there was no proof.

If Kariya noticed the boy, he showed no sign of it.

"I never knew you were such a kind-hearted soul, Kariya," he spoke, his indigo eyes taking on a roguish glint. "I have to admire your control."

"Kariya, what's he talking about?" she asked.

The russet-eyed Reaper remained motionless.

"But you know, if you don't do something…" the gray-maned youth continued, still talking as if Uzuki wasn't present. "…You'll lose yourself."

Kariya's face stayed calm, until it suddenly twisted into a vicious snarl as a guttural growl rumbled in his throat. Uzuki leapt back in surprise.

"…Kariya?"

"See?" Joshua replied, as the smiling boy turned around and began to walk away. "Later. Maybe."

"Wait!" Uzuki called out. "Tell me what the hell's going on! What's wrong with him?!"

Joshua disappeared into the crowd. Or maybe he just disappeared altogether.

Kariya's fierce expression softened, although it never completely reverted to the deathly calm of before.

"…Kariya?" she asked, before her expression hardened. "Kariya, if you don't answer me in ten seconds, I'm going to shoot you in the foot! And don't think I won't! One…two…"

"…zuki…"

"Huh?"

His head was still lowered, but now his eyes were drawn painfully shut.

"Get…Get…"

He let out a faint moan as he began to slide down toward the ground.

"Whoa!" Uzuki exclaimed, catching him. "Hey, pull yourself…Huh?"

His wings were flickering, the air around them seeped in a translucent aura. They suddenly extended, trembling but retaining their shape, before they relaxed and started to flicker once more.

She felt him start to shiver in her grasp. He was soaked with sweat.

_…He's burning up! And his wings-_

Uzuki's eyes widened.

_Could he be-_

She fully activated the pact, bathing both of them in a bright blue light. She let out a cry as she felt a tearing pain in her wings and a vehement haze settle over her senses.

_Ugh…if this is what I think it is, then this is gonna suck…_

Kariya's eyes reopened, although he still looked exhausted. He finally looked up and acknowledged his associate Reaper's presence.

"Uzuki? What are you…?"

"Geez, Kariya," she growled, rubbing her brow where a headache was already forming. "Why didn't you just tell me that you were about to evolve? Would've saved us both a lot of trouble."

She waited for the usual lazy excuse that never came. Instead he studied the ground with a somber gaze, and the violet-eyed Reaper picked up on feelings of…anger? Gladness? Sadness? Then she remembered that evolving Reapers never felt or acted normal, so there was no point trying to analyze him.

"Fine, don't tell me then," she replied grouchily, turning around and taking out her cellphone. "Now I have to cancel all my plans since I have to look after you tonight. Thanks a lot."

There was another odd shift of emotion from Kamiya, this time toward bitterness and amusement. He still said nothing, though, and Uzuki didn't feel like looking back to see his expression.

Still, even as she punched in the first phone number, she was uneasy. Of course she knew that being the energy source of Kariya's transformation wasn't going to be pleasant. Then again, that wasn't what bothered her.

_If you don't do something…you'll lose yourself, _the boy named Joshua had said.

What did that brat mean by that?

IIIIII

Kariya was right, Uzuki thought. The process of evolution was a pain.

Uzuki was sprawled in a beat-up recliner, with no intention of moving unless she had to. With her energy being drained by her partner, she needed to save her vigor for when she needed it. She looked up at the ceiling, where she noticed a few cracks that she hadn't seen before.

Kariya was slumbering in his bed, his body limp apart from the occasional shudder. He had to sleep on his stomach because of the sensitivity in his wings and back. His golden-hued glasses were on the table next to the bed, beside a glass of water and his discarded parka. He looked younger without his glasses, or perhaps older? She had trouble telling in her mind's misty state.

All she could really tell at the moment was that she was thirsty, which meant she had to get up. She didn't really want to get up. Still, her partner's doze helped to dull the symptoms they shared, so she supposed this would be the best time to get a drink.

She pushed herself out of the chair, ignoring her body's aches. She massaged her throbbing wings, the part of her most sympathetic to Kariya's metamorphosis.

She mused on what his Noise form would be like, as she walked over to the kitchen. A cat Noise, maybe? Many of the Noise forms she had seen had been feline. Or maybe a kangaroo Noise, or a turtle Noise? It would be like him to have an oddball Noise form like that.

A sudden spasm in her wings made her flinch.

_Was he planning to go through this all by himself?_ Uzuki wondered, as she poured herself a glass of water._ That idiot. Even I know that you're supposed to have the extra support from your partner in order to successfully transform the first time. Even if he is more powerful than most of the officer Reapers, he's still-_

The room blurred around her as her chest suddenly tightened.

_Wha-_

The glass fell to the floor, and so did Uzuki.

_Wha…What happened…?_

Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. Her wings flared out forcefully.

_Kariya…is that you? Kariya…are you-_

She let out a cry as pain shot up through her spine and into her wings.

_God…if this is…evolving…_

She suddenly felt very tired.

_Kari…ya…_

There was a sudden flood of terror. Was it from her or Kariya? She couldn't tell.

_Koki…are you…_

The pain and haze abruptly ended. She panted in relief.

_Whew…I guess the worst is over. Hey Kariya…Kariya?_

Uzuki didn't hear or feel anything from her fellow Reaper. She wasn't feeling anything, she realized, because the pact connection was no longer activated.

"Kariya? Kariya?!" she shouted, getting back onto her feet and starting to wobble her way out of the kitchen. "Damn, he must've panicked when I panicked and cut the connection."

A dizzy spell seized her, and she had to lean onto the counter for support.

_Oh man, this has taken more out of me than I thought._

The room was washed in a red glow. Kariya was on his hands and knees, eyes closed tight as he fought to catch his breath. His wings, now long and scarlet, were the source of the red illumination, and were straining to touch the ceiling.

"Kariya-"

"Uzuki…" he panted. "…Get out..."

"Huh?"

"Get out…now," he repeated, opening his eyes enough to see her.

"What are you talking about? I need to reestablish the connect-"

"I said GET OUT!" he snarled, electricity coursing through his wings. Bolts of lightning shot off the wings, the tendrils of power crashing near Uzuki and causing her to jump back.

"What the hell?! Kariya-"

"Get out…please."

"Kariya?" she questioned, before her eyes narrowed. "You don't think I can handle it, do you? That's why you ran off this afternoon. Well let me remind you that we're colleagues, and while I may not be as powerful as you are yet, I can still take my share of the pain."

Kariya smiled weakly.

"It's…not that simple...Uzuki…If it were only…that simple…"

"What do you mean?"

"…Consumption."

"What?" Uzuki asked, giving him a confused stare.

"In order to…successfully evolve and…gain a Noise form…" he began, looking away from Uzuki. "…A Reaper has to…consume their partner."

Uzuki's breath caught in her throat.

"W-What?" she croaked.

"Ever wonder why…Reaper officers…almost never have partners?" he continued, a humorless smile on his face. "Why most of them…act so…insane? Well…that's why. The consumed…provide them with enough power…to not need a pact…and fuel the Noise form…and those who were once…their partners…they were ones they cared for…so…being one with them…it's no wonder…they can't get past themselves…"

"…Why…" she began, before glaring at Kariya. "Why didn't you tell me something this important earlier?! Or would that have taken too much effort?!"

Kariya sighed, unfazed, or perhaps saddened, by her outburst.

"It's a…burden…to know…like knowing….the world…is going to end…" he rasped, his eyelids drooping wearily. "Hey…look at me…I didn't… I don't…want to…consume anyone…so…I thought…if I just held… myself…back…but…but…"

His wings shuddered and pulsed aggressively, and he cried out.

"Kariya, the other day…" Uzuki began. "…You really did overdo it, didn't you?"

He smirked darkly.

"Ironic…isn't it?" he replied. "The pact…saved you then…but now…if you activate it…you'll be drained…dry…I was able to…break it before…but if you try now…I won't…I won't…"

His whole body trembled violently. Uzuki saw red tattoos seep out of the corners of his eyes like tears of lava.

"Anyway…like I said…I don't want…to consume…anyone…especially not…you…Uzuki…not someone…so…so you should…get out…now…please…"

Red flame tattoos materialized around his wrists and ankles, flickering in the air like real fire. Two long red lines started shining underneath his white shirt.

"…Please…I can't…"

"But…what will happen to you?"

"…Have I…ever told you…?"

Long golden tattoos rose behind Kariya.

"I…sympathize…with Boss Noise…"

Uzuki studied him more closely. The red tattoos on the skin, the golden tattoo…tails, that's what they were…the more she watched, the more her associate Reaper had the look of a Progfox. Even his eyes were taking on the yellow glow of the vulpine Noise.

She despised Progfoxes.

"Get out…Uzuki…" he growled, his face crumpling into a feral glare. "Get out…Get…out…"

His russet eyes were turning glassy.

"Get…Get…"

"Kariya…" she breathed, transfixed.

Her partner, refusing to consume her, would be consumed by his inner Noise. He would lose himself, as the boy had said. To think that brat had been smiling when he said that. She was going to punch him the next time she saw him. Or shoot him.

His wings extended and shook, as his whole body flickered like a bad reception.

_Hell…what should I do? I can't just…_

She took a step forward.

_Run…I've got to run…_

She took another step.

_If I don't…all of Kariya's struggles…my plans…_

Another footfall.

_My life…_

His wings flickered and crackled.

A kind-hearted soul, that brat had called him, with an angelic smile and demonic eyes. She was going to shoot that snot on sight.

_He doesn't deserve this._

His breath came in tight gasps.

_He doesn't-_

Kariya yelled out.

_-deserve this!_

She wrapped her arms him, feeling the red tattoos burn her like magma. He tensed up and growled, but then he became quiet as his body grew lax.

"…What…"

She smiled.

"Koki, you lazy bum," she spoke. "You think I'm going to let you take the easy way out?"

There was a flash of blue light.

IIIIII

_Aw man, I hate Taboo Drakes!_ whined Beat, as the ex-Player narrowly avoided being roasted by its black fire breath.

_**You're the one who wanted to fight it**_, growled Neku, the orange-haired boy sending white energy bullets toward the black-and-gray beast. They had little effect. _**C'mon, the faster we beat this thing, the faster we can go back and eat.**_

_I'm tryin', man! I'm tryin'!_

A torrent of lightning bolts crashed upon the dragon, swiftly reducing it to static.

_Whoa, Phones! That was awesome!_

_**That…wasn't me.**_

_Huh?_

Neku warily looked behind him.

It was a fox Noise, but it wasn't like any fox Noise he had encountered before. Its scarlet body, with white tattoos on the face and limbs, was humanoid in shape. It floated about a foot above the ground, its lanky legs folded into an Indian-style position, as if walking was too lowly for it. Nine long tattoo tails swished behind it, purple at the base that blended into red in the middle, which eventually gave way to gold at the tips. A vulpine mask, a false face created by interwoven tattoos of black and white, concealed its visage.

**Ah, this is just great…**

_Crap, man, is there another Noise?! But I don't see anything up here, yo!_

Neku snarled and summoned a circle of fire around him.

_Well, that's a fine way to say thank you,_ said the Noise, the words echoing in Neku's mind.

The orange-haired teenager froze, his break in concentration disbanding the flames. He _knew_ that voice. So did Beat, as he could tell by his partner's shocked feelings.

_Dude, Phones, was that-_

"Kariya?" Neku asked.

The humanoid fox dissolved into a jumble of tattoo lines, revealing the smiling Reaper underneath. The lines gathered and reformed into two sets of long wings, one set red and one set black. Once fully reassembled, the wings folded flat onto his back, where they both soon disappeared.

_Eh? Lollipop's here? But I don't see his shadow up here, or Pinky._

"I don't need to form a pact now that I'm an officer Reaper," the evolved death-dealer explained, adjusting his gold-tinted glasses.

"You're an officer now? Wow. Congrats on the promotion," Neku replied, smiling. "…By the way, what happened to your hair?"

"Oh, this?" he answered, casually fingering his bright red mane. "This was Uzuki's idea, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"Well, I woke up with it this color the day after I evolved, so I assume it's her idea."

_Yo, where is Pinky anyway?_

"Oh, she's around," the redhead answered. "You know, she doesn't like being called that."

_Well, I can never remember her real name…anyway, ain't she gonna be mad that you got a Noise form and she don't?_

"Don't worry, she's got one now too. We're even."

_You got 'em at the same time, yo? That's awesome. She happy now?_

The redhead paused, looking up to the sky of the Noise dimension. Then he smiled again.

"Yeah…for now. But I know her. She won't be happy until we reach the top."

"We, huh?" asked Neku, smirking. "Being dragged along for the ride Kariya?"

"Of course," the scarlet-maned Reaper replied, smiling impishly as he plucked off his glasses, revealing violet eyes. "You could say nothing could separate us now."

IIIIII

_Please feel free to let me know what you think. It's kind of a disturbing idea, I know XD, but I think it explains a lot._

_I had some weird problems with the italics and bolds when I uploaded it, having to redo a lot of them. Has anyone else had this problem? (If not, it's probably my computer)_

_Next up: Neku vs Shiki_

_Cya!_


	2. I Have To: Neku vs Shiki

_Hello again! This chapter is a bit on the short side (at least, compared to the previous chapter), probably because it's faster paced. It's set on Day 7 of the first week...though circumstances are altered. Thank you to all who have reviewed, beta'd, favorited, and put this story on their alerts. It means a lot when there are so many good stories in this fandom._

_Now I had mentioned this in the previous chapter, but I still managed to trip up a beta of mine, so I will clarify. Each story is set in a different TWEWY universe, so none of the stories directly relate to each other. That is why you will see the same chars in different circumstances in each story._

_Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends With You. Neku would constantly be taking my techno CDs and Beat would eat us out of house and home. Thank you._

_As a side note, I'm glad to see more KariyaUzuki stories popping up. This pairing needs more fics (especially since everyone seems to agree on the pairing)_

**Scale 2: I Have To**

"This is it…" said Shiki, gazing into Neku's blue eyes. "Day 7."

"Yup," answered the orange-haired teen, returning the firm stare. "Today we win this."

Their cellphones beeped.

"There it is!" both Players exclaimed, whipping out their mobile devices.

"The last mission," Shiki added, flipping her cellphone open.

"The Game Master awaits you on the freeway," Neku read, his eyes scanning the text message. "Defeat her."

Shiki saw her partner's eyes narrow. They both knew who _she _was.

"You have 600 minutes," the sapphire-eyed Player continued. "Fail, and face erasure."

He snapped the cellphone shut.

"- The Reapers."

The two teenagers yelped as they each felt a searing pain in one of their hands. The timer had been set, literally burned into their palms. They didn't need to look to confirm that. It was what had happened the previous six days.

"The Game Master is _her_, right?" asked Shiki.

"We need to pay her back for Yammer," said Neku

"Yeah…"

"C'mon. We've got a Game to win," insisted the red-haired girl. "For Yammer, for Shooter…and for us!"

Neku's cellphone rang.

"Who could be calling us now?"

"Think it's the Reapers?" asked Shiki.

Neku snapped open his mobile, pushed his huge headphones back, and held the cellphone up to his exposed ear.

"Hello? Dead kid speaking."

"C'mon," the female voice on the other end spoke boredly. "I don't have all day, you know."

Neku slammed the phone shut, a fierce scowl on his face.

"It was her?" questioned the brown-eyed redhead.

"It was her."

They both glared at his silenced cellphone.

"…Let's go," said Neku.

IIIIII

"So you two finally made it," she said, yawning as she unwrapped a lollipop. "And here I was planning on taking a nap. Oh well."

The Player duo glared at Game Master Uzuki, who smirked back as she brushed back her wild black hair. This russet-eyed Reaper was in charge of this heartless slaughter of a Game. If they could defeat her, the final boss, then they could nab a one-way ticket to rebirth in the Real Ground.

Uzuki stuck the pop in her mouth as she strolled over to Neku and Shiki, both hands tucked away in the pocket of her old skeleton parka. Both teenagers tensed.

"Why so nervous? You're only going to be erased," she teased, grinning as her brown eyes paled to yellow. "Don't worry, it won't hurt much. I want to hurry up and take my nap after all."

Two pairs of large bat-like wings erupted from her back, one set black and the other set violet. Green and yellow tattoo lines formed on her face, while red tattoo marks snaked around her legs and encased her feet in large cloven hooves.

There was a flash of white light, and Shiki felt herself and Neku being drawn into the Noise dimension with the transforming officer Reaper. When the last of the numbness had faded, Shiki found herself before the Noise version of the Game Master.

The violet creature was huge, a little over ten feet tall, and horse-like in shape. The horned head swarmed with green and yellow tattoo lines, with a yellow pinpoint peering out of the blackness of the eye. Another set of similar jagged marks formed an outer rib cage and spine that eventually tapered off into a thin barbed tail, curled like a scorpion's. Its white bat-like tattoo wings flapped lazily.

_So, whacha think?_ asked the Noise smugly.

Shiki was silent.

_She up in your zone? _she heard Neku ask from the bottom half of the dimension. _All I see here is chump Noise._

**_Yeah…_**

_What's her Noise form like?_

…_**A demonic unicorn-pegasus… thing.**_

Shiki heard, and felt, the normally serious Neku burst into a fit of laughter.

_Shut up you brats! _Uzuki roared, opening her wide mouth to show serrated teeth. _We'll see how much you're laughing when you're crushed under my feet!_

The violet beast reared up and stomped the ground, the shockwave induced knocking Shiki backward.

_Whoa! I felt that all the way down here! Be careful!_

_**Don't need to tell me twice!**_

Shiki rolled out of the way of the charging Uzuki. While the dark horse-like Noise screeched to a halt, the redhead focused the power of her Soul onto her black stuffed cat Mr. Mew (whom Neku had oh-so-affectionately christened Piggy after mistaking it for a toy swine). Impenetrable aura surrounded the soft custom-made feline, making the otherwise harmless doll into an unstoppable projectile. There was something so satisfying about beating the tar out monsters with your own stuffed toy, as Mr. Mew struck the dark Noise's flank several times. It returned to its creator like it had been pulled back with invisible string.

_Why you-!_ Uzuki growled, as she opened her jagged maw wide and unleashed green fire at Shiki.

Still, as Shiki jumped away from the otherworldly stream of flame, sometimes she wished she had Neku's omnipotence for psychs. While flinging Mr. Mew everywhere was fun, it would've been nice if she could summon a barrier of flame, or zap an enemy with a lightning bolt.

Neku wasn't saying anything, but she could tell by his cool pleasure that he was making short work of the weaker Noise below, probably roasting them with fire or slashing them to bits with air slices.

Shiki hastily evaded another blast of fire while launching the psych-possessed toy at the demonic unicorn's face. It hit the horse-like Noise between the eyes, interrupting the attack. Shiki took advantage of the break and landed several more strikes before pulling Mr. Mew back.

Uzuki yelled out in frustration as she stamped her feet furiously, causing the ground to shake again. This didn't worry Shiki though, because she and Neku had built up enough energy to unleash a Fusion attack.

"Ready to die?" the redhead taunted.

_Then die! _echoed Neku.

Both of them began teleporting at an incredible rate, and soon started penetrating each other's side of the dimension. Neku attacked Uzuki directly with energy blasts, while Shiki assaulted the chump Noise below. The burst of power only lasted a few seconds, but by the time the Fusion ended the chump Noise were wiped out and Uzuki had taken considerable damage.

The demonic unicorn let out a cry that was halfway between a neigh and a screech, and dove down into the bottom side of the dimension. Five Bigbanfrogs and two Garage Wolves materialized around Shiki.

_Wow, she really is big and ugly, _Shiki heard Neku say, feeling both amusement and slight intimidation flow up to her. _Heh. Well, if she thinks it's gonna be easy with me, she's got another thing coming!_

_**If I can handle her, I'm sure you can. Just watch out for her fire breath.**_

_Gotcha._

Shiki flung Mr. Mew at one of the frog Noises, knocking it back into a couple of the other frogs. She ducked to avoid a lunge from one of the Garage Wolves.

There were a lot of chump Noises, but that's all they were: chump Noises. They were nothing compared to Uzuki's rampages. If these were the best minions Uzuki had, she was not impressed. After all, there was no way she and Neku would lose to someone like her, not when she and Neku had gotten so far.

IIIIII

"_Now, are you in, or are you out?" asked Uzuki, smiling and unwrapping a pop._

_Neku glowered at the wild-haired Game Master._

"…_I'm in."_

"_Neku!" Shiki shouted, horrified at her partner's acceptance of the Reaper's challenge. The death-dealers could offer any kind of mission to a Player, and Uzuki had yet to state the objective of this one._

"_Whee! 'Atta boy! Now, let's get started!" the russet-eyed Game Master replied with a coy smirk. "…Oh, I forgot to mention. If you fail…I erase you."_

"_What?!" Neku exclaimed._

"_Thankfully, the rules are veeery simple," the black-haired Reaper continued, sticking the pop in her mouth. "You have one minute…to erase that girl."_

"_What?!" the orange-haired teen yelled. "Erase her?!"_

"_Yup. Poof! Kaput! Easy, right? Just pretend you're erasing the Noise," Uzuki stated lazily, as if it was no big deal. "Allright, Ready? Start!"_

_Neku turned to Shiki with terrified eyes. It was the most emotion the boy had ever showed toward another person since she had made a pact with him the other day. _

"_Neku…"_

"_30 seconds!" Uzuki announced, still smiling. "Still on the fence? Then let me give you an incentive. That girl? She's been spying for the Reapers."_

"_What?! She's a spy?!" Neku shouted._

"_Hey! What are you saying?!" protested Shiki, stomping over to the officer Reaper._

"_Thanks for checking in so often," the black-haired death-dealer went on, as if she hadn't heard. "We couldn't have done it without you."_

"_Shut up! Don't lie!" the redhead snapped, feeling her face flush with anger. "Neku…She's making all of this-"_

"_Your phone," Neku interrupted coldly. "Why did you keep playing with your phone?"_

"_Huh?!" Shiki exclaimed, as she remembered the many times she had flipped her phone open. How was she supposed to explain that? 'Neku, I was looking at the picture of me and my friend Eri because she makes me so jealous and I can't stand her and yet I've become her?' That didn't make sense even to her, when she thought about it._

"_Oh…I was…just…"_

"_Just SPYING," Uzuki interjected, smirking. "She's not very good at covering it up."_

"_I didn't spy!" she yelled "I swear!"_

"_G'bye. And thanks for playing. 10 seconds…" the Game Master stated, turning back to Neku. "You're the star, kiddo. Just do things your way."_

_Neku remained silent, his blue eyes fixed to the ground._

"_What are you waiting for? Do what comes naturally," Uzuki pressed on. "Save yourself. Screw everybody else, right?"_

_Neku slowly raised his eyes to Shiki's._

"_Don't, Neku," she pleaded. "Don't kill me…"_

_The sapphire-eyed teen kept his gaze steady, though his eyes swirled with dissonance._

"_I have to."_

_He raised his hand. A blue glow filled his palm._

_Shiki felt an invisible force clamp around her throat and pull her up into the air. She noticed other pieces of debris float up with her._

_He was going to do it. He was actually going to kill her._

_She looked down. He was looking up. He was terrified. But he was still…_

"_Stop it, kid."_

_It was Uzuki's command._

_Neku stared at her with wide eyes, but he didn't hesitate to put Shiki down. The redhead collapsed on the ground and coughed._

_The wild-haired Game Master was still smiling, but her eyes were halfway between amusement and disgust._

"_Ha! I can't believe that you actually did that," she said, taking out her pop and twirling it in her hand. "Don't you know that if you erase your partner, you'll be erased seven minutes later? And to think you were going to strangle her. It would have been much more merciful to hit her with a few bolts of lightning and get it over with."_

_She sighed._

"_Oh, and I made that stuff up with the spying. You sure swallowed it hook, line, and sinker though, didn't you? To think you'd believe me over your partner," she went on, smirking sardonically. "I can see you two are going to last real long. Two days in and you're already ready to erase each other."_

_She stuck the pop back in her mouth as she turned around and began to walk away._

"_G'bye. Hope your erasure isn't too painful." _

_Shiki shivered as the past few minutes sank in. Neku was shaking with rage, though whether the rage was directed at Uzuki or himself she couldn't tell._

IIIIII

But they had lasted real long, longer than the other Players in fact. And now, now that they had gotten to know each other, now that they trusted each other, now that they were up against the final boss, there was no way they were going to go down now.

Uzuki had returned to Shiki's part of the dimension, while Neku was in combat with the weaker Noise again. It hadn't taken long foe the switch to happen.

_Damn brats!_ the sinister Pegasus Noise roared, shooting green fire at Shiki.

Shiki's shoulder got scorched as she almost evaded the flames.

_Shiki!_

_**Don't worry, Neku. It's not that bad.**_

_If you say so…_

She still felt him worry though.

_**Now if I could only get an opening…**_

Uzuki's tail uncoiled and rose to strike.

_**There!**_

Shiki leapt high into the air as the tail lunged downward, causing the sharp appendage to shoot beneath her. She charged Mr. Mew as she aimed for Uzuki's face.

_**Now I -**_

There was a sudden, tremendous pain in the middle of her chest, making her gasp.

_**Wha-**_

…_ki…_

Shiki looked downas she began to fall. The tail had gone straight through the dimension ground, right to Neku's side.

_Shi…ki…_

The redhead's eyes widened.

_**Oh god…Neku…she was aiming for…**_

Shiki felt herself hit the floor, her black cat doll landing a couple feet away.

The demonic unicorn let out a proud huff.

Shiki stared at the Game Master with frightened eyes.

_**No…this can't…this can't be happening…me and Neku…we were going to go all the way…**_

The tattoos receded into wings as Uzuki took on her usual Reaper form. She walked over to Shiki, who trying to command her doll to move. All it did was twitch.

The Game Master brought out her gun and pointed it at the fallen redhead's heart.

"Game Over."

Shiki shut her eyes and waited

"And what a fine Game it was."

Uzuki startled.

Shiki opened her eyes to see a smiling gray-haired boy her age materialize beside her, his feet hovering just above the ground. He didn't so much as look at her.

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded the wild-haired Reaper.

"Now, now, Uzuki," replied the boy, failing to be intimidated in the slightest.

Huge tattoo wings sprouted from his back, white and bird-like, except the feathers were too sharp to be like real feathers. A pale aura enveloped him.

"Respect your superiors."

Shiki couldn't help but stare in amazement. Was this boy…an angel?

Uzuki stumbled back, shocked. The boy smirked, and the white wings vanished.

"W-What? You-" the Game Master fumbled, her eyes wide. "You're the-"

"Yes, Uzuki. I'm the Composer."

"Com…poser?" Shiki questioned.

_Shi…ki…What's…_

The boy called the Composer turned his gaze to the ground, as if he could see through it.

"Ah yes," he stated, as he slipped straight through the floor. A few moments passed, and then he resurfaced with Neku in his arms, the orange-haired boy unconscious and flickering violently. For the first time since he had summoned himself, the indigo-eyed boy looked solemn.

Shiki felt her eyes brim with tears. She knew that Neku had been mortally wounded, was synced with his suffering, but to actually see him in his condition made everything so much worse.

"Ne…ku…"

"Hey, what're you doing?" she heard Uzuki ask, her tone tainted with suspicion.

"Oh, I just want to conduct a little experiment," the angelic boy replied cheerfully. "Don't worry, regardless of what happens, you'll still be awarded the usual kill points. They lost and you won, after all. You can even watch if you want."

Uzuki said nothing, but the silence that followed carried no contentment.

Carefully the indigo-eyed boy laid Neku on the ground, and then floated back over to Shiki. Bending down, he helped Shiki onto her feet, holding her up when she needed the extra support to stand.

"Now," he murmured into her ear. "I'm going to give you two a second chance. In fact, I'm going to give you two choices of second chances. But first…"

She felt his fingertips lightly touch the small of her back. Exotic warmth flowed down her spine, swiftly infecting the rest of her body. Suddenly there were two stabs of pain in the back of her shoulders, and then something black emerged in the corner of her eye.

Wings. Reaper Wings. She was being made into a Reaper. Shouldn't she be more worried that she was being turned into a Reaper? And yet all she felt was excitement, and strength…

Neku's eyes fluttered open.

"Neku!" Shiki exclaimed happily.

"W-Wha…" he whispered, feelings of confusion and alarm drifting over to Shiki.

"It'll be okay, Neku. Even I have to become a Reaper, I'll still-"

"We're not done yet," the Composer informed her, as she felt the gray-haired boy press his full hand on the small of her back.

She gasped as a rush of power gushed into her. Her wings stretched out and shook as pain shot through them like rogue electricity. But despite the aches in her body she was strangely happy, ecstatic even. She was so happy she could've punched somebody. Wait, that didn't sound right.

"Hey, wait a minute!" she heard Uzuki protest in the background, though her voice seemed far away. "You can't just-"

"I can't what, Uzuki?" asked the indigo-eyed boy. "Do you have a suggestion?"

A tense silence followed.

Shiki looked at her wings. They had grown so much. They were almost the size of Uzuki's wings.

"S-Shiki…"

The redhead whipped her head toward Neku. He was cloaked in a thin blue aura and was flickering more violently than before.

"Neku? Neku?!" Shiki called out. "Something's wrong! It's hurting Neku!"

"…Well, no one ever said consumption was a pleasant process," answered the Composer.

"Consumption?"

"When a Reaper absorbs their partner to evolve," he explained plainly.

"W-What?! Absorbs?!" Shiki yelled, turning angrily to the indigo-eyed boy. "You said this would save Neku, not kill him!"

"It won't kill Neku, not exactly," the Composer countered. "Now physically, yes, he will be erased, but that's going to happen anyway. In fact it might be kinder to strike him with a mercy blow, since he'll just be suffering at this point. You don't have to worry about erasing yourself since the rest of his Soul will be drawn into you once he's erased."

He sighed, as if this was a mildly distasteful subject.

"Anyway, like I said, his Soul will be assimilated with yours, so spiritually he'll live on. He'll always be with you, so to speak. And I imagine Neku will very vocal about his opinions."

"You say that like you know him."

"Maybe I do," the boy smiled. "But in a little while you'll know him better than anyone else."

He gazed behind him.

"Right, Uzuki?"

Shiki turned her head as much as her searing back and wings would allow, expecting the Game Master to be smiling sadistically. Maybe she was even bored by the whole ordeal.

Instead Uzuki's russet eyes were leering at the Composer boy, her teeth bared in a disgusted expression.

"…You really are a diabolical bastard, aren't you?" she snarled, a revolted grin on her face.

The indigo-eyed boy just chuckled as he turned his attention back to Shiki.

"Now, if you choose, you can just cut off the pact and let Neku's Soul pass on in peace," he stated. "And then you can live out the rest of your life as a boss-grade Noise. You won't really be yourself anymore, but some Reapers do prefer losing what's left of their humanity to consuming their partner. Those are your two options."

Shiki turned back to Neku. The hole in his chest still burned in hers.

No, it wasn't just the wound. A burning desire was rising, a desire to attack, to eat, to _consume_. She _wanted _to consume him, was almost giddy at the prospect.

She shook her head vigorously.

_**No, I can't! This is Neku! I can't give in to my Reaper side!**_

The blue-eyed boy lay on the ground panting, the blue aura expanding.

"Well, what will it be?" asked the gray-maned youth. "If you're going to cut the connection, you'll need to do it soon."

Shiki squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her chest. Her wings throbbed angrily.

_**Neku…I…I can't…let…**_

"You…"

Shiki's eyes snapped open. Neku was looking at her, eyes barely open.

"You…have to…"

She gasped and shuddered.

"Neku-"

"We've…got to…get…that prick…for this…"

The indigo-eyed boy looked mildly surprised when he realized Neku was talking about him, but then he reverted to the usual smile.

"How typical of you, Neku," he answered, before turning back to Shiki. "Well, the partner has spoken. Will you respect his last wishes?"

Shiki tottered over to where Neku lay and knelt down, resting her hand on Neku's. Her black wings loomed above her.

"Neku…"

Her right wing raised itself up, exposing its sharp ends and edges.

"I'm…sorry…"

The wing stayed in place, shuddering.

Neku smirked faintly.

"Not…as sorry…as I am…"

Shiki shut her eyes tight.

The Reaper wing swooped down.

IIIIII

The figure that appeared in the Underpass was not human. The only trait human-like about it was its body shape, roughly as large as an adult person, and that body was concealed in sleek black fur. White-and-silver tattoos cloaked the slender hands and feet, forming long claws. Those claws clutched a stuffed black cat.

Its two long tails had similar tattoo barbs on the ends. Its eyes were black, blending in with the feline face, except for the pinprick yellow pupils that shone like twin stars.

Those eyes were crying. They continued to weep even as the graceful cat Noise reverted to a crying girl with black hair and blue eyes.

"It's rough, isn't it?"

Shiki glanced to see Uzuki approaching from the left, her expression solemn. She hugged her stuffed cat doll tighter to her chest, looking away.

Uzuki sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Bastard didn't even stick around," the dark-haired Game Master growled, referring to how the indigo-eyed boy had vanished soon after examining Shiki's new form and powers. He seemed disappointed.

Shiki gave a tearful nod.

"…Didn't leave you with much of a choice, did he?" Uzuki continued, looking up at the dirty ceiling. "Either one of them."

"Neku…" Shiki trailed off, touching the middle of her chest. "I… I can feel him. He…doesn't want me to be sad, but…"

"It makes you feel filthy, doesn't it?"

Shiki stated silent.

Uzuki smirked, though the gesture didn't reach her eyes.

"My partner didn't give me much of a choice either."

Shiki turned to Uzuki, who was still looking up to the ceiling.

"That lazy bum, he knew he was going to be consumed when I started to show signs of evolving that day," she began. "So he drugged both our sodas with…well, I don't know what the hell it was, but it was something strong…could hardly feel a damn thing. I knew he was acting strange, snuggling up next to me like that…would've slapped him if I wasn't so damn tired…but I thought it was just the drug…Then I woke up the next day, and he just…wasn't there…"

Shiki looked away.

"I went hysterical when I finally figured it out. Managed to scare the hell out of him. He thought this was what I wanted," she hissed, her voice cracking. "If he had only just…said something…if only you had just…"

Uzuki wore a bitter grin as she glared at the ceiling, seeming to have forgotten Shiki's presence.

"You hear me? I still haven't forgiven you for that," she spoke. "…Hey! Why are you laughing, you lazy bum?! Hey!"

The wild-haired Reaper then remembered Shiki's existence, and let out an irritated sigh as she rubbed her forehead.

"Anyway, welcome to the world of officer Reapers, also known as schizophrenia central," said Uzuki, giving Shiki a half-humorous smile. "You get used it to it, mostly. Well…I've heard that after a while things start to blend, until there's no more _you _or_ them_ or even _us_, just _I_, but we haven't really gotten to that point…yet."

Shiki leaned her head against the wall thoughtfully.

"Uzuki, who's the Composer?" she asked. "I mean, what does he do?"

Uzuki frowned.

"The Composer is pretty much the god of Shibuya," she explained. "He keeps things in tune and judges souls, but other than that he can do whatever he wants. If that means that he wants to grow trees out of concrete or make people forget to give him a bill, then he can make that happen."

Uzuki put one hand on her hip.

"This current guy really grates on my nerves. To think Shibuya is in the hands of a spoiled brat like him," she growled. "That's it! I'm gonna work and get even stronger so I can overthrow this snot!"

"Overthrow him?!" questioned Shiki.

"Of course! It's natural Reaper order! Whoever defeats the Composer becomes the Composer themselves!" announced Uzuki, folding her arms and smirking.

Shiki smirked.

"Good luck with that," she answered. "Because me and Neku are gonna beat him first."

"Oh yeah?" Uzuki drawled, bringing a pop out of the pocket of her old skeleton parka and grinning. "Wanna bet on that?"

IIIIII

A certain gray-maned boy stood atop the 104 Building, surveying Scramble Crossing with a sigh.

"Well, that didn't work out," he mused, folding his arms. "So much for that theory."

The indigo-eyed youth felt a sharp shift of vibe in the air. He looked behind him.

A radiant figure had appeared, the general size and shape of an adult. The light soon slipped back, however, revealing…another gray-maned boy who could have been his twin, looking cross. The illumination reformed as a pair of white tattoo wings on the other boy's back, and soon faded from sight.

The first one smiled.

"Why hello there, my other self."

The second smirked.

"Hello to you too. Now what do you think you're doing in my world? Don't you have your own parallel dimension you should be in?"

"I do, but I'm doing some traveling to…solve a persistent problem," replied the first. "And this alternate world was close enough to mine to be worth a visit."

"And why were you interfering in _my _Game?" interrogated the native.

"But I never interfered in your Game. It was over by the time I arrived on the scene. So there's nothing for you to worry about."

The second shot the first an irritated stare.

"Besides," the traveler went on, smiling. "If it upset you so much, why didn't you interfere with my interference?"

The native smiled.

"I wanted to see what you would do."

"Of course," the first grinned back. "Do I know myself, or do I know myself?"

The second leered at him.

"You mean you interfered like that because you knew I would be too curious to interrupt?"

"Well, I _am_ you," the traveler replied. "The future you, that is."

The second grunted. The first grinned.

"Now, to reward you for your excellent patience," the first began. "I will give you a warning."

The native raised an eyebrow.

"A warning?"

The first folded his arms and sighed.

"I assume you face the same problem I do, and the fact that Neku was unable to win the Game had already greatly disrupted your plans," he stated. "But even if Neku had survived the whole ordeal intact, he would not be the key to solving that problem, because even under great stress and manipulation he will not evolve."

The second narrowed his eyes and held his chin.

"He won't evolve?" he questioned. "I take it that you learned this through personal experience, o future one?"

"Of course," the traveler replied. "He was forced him through the Game three times, faced off against several Reaper officers, including the Conductor, I stayed by his side for a time as a partner, and even betrayed and shot him while his friends and Shibuya were on the line. That was the second time I shot him, by the way, but you probably already knew that."

"Yet he never evolved?" asked the native. "Not even a small pair of Reaper wings? You _did_ remember to alter his code to a Reaper code, didn't you?"

"Naturally," the first responded, miffed. "Why would I ever forget something so simple?"

"Just thought I'd ask," the other replied with a shrug.

The traveler sighed once again.

"Anyway, that is what I'm trying to figure out. I thought that maybe having another consume him would unlock the true power that he was unable to access himself. Kariya seems to be one of those types. But the partner's Noise form, though impressive, is far from being spectacular."

"I see," the native replied. "That's why you forced the evolution. Well, I could always use more good officer Reapers anyway. Their numbers are painfully slim."

"As always is the case," the traveler answered, pushing some of his curly hair out of his face. "My point is that you still have some time to find another proxy, one that can hopefully evolve properly. As for me, I'll just have to figure out what's wrong with the one I've got."

The first turned away.

"Well, good luck. Say hello to Neku's vessel for me," he spoke, giving a lazy glance back. "Oh, and do try to be more sociable. It'll do you worlds of good."

The traveler raised a hand in farewell, and then vanished into the air as if he never existed there at all.

IIIIII

_Now, a brief explanation._

_Basically, Noise of Regalement follows the traveling Joshua as he goes from world to world to solve his "problem". That is the "loose thread" that connects all these stories. Aside from his visits, the worlds have nothing in common with each other. And in case you were wondering, yes it was the traveling Joshua to spoke to Kariya briefly in the first story._

_The next chapter looks to be a big one, with some insight into the traveling Joshua as well as the consumption plotline._

_I am looking for betas. Most of the offical ones are busy w/ schoolwork or other matters. If you're interested drop me a PM._

_As a random sidenote: What the hell was Uzuki on, on Day 2 of the first week? XD._

_Next up: Neku vs Beat_

_Cya!_


	3. The Real Game: Neku vs Beat

_Hi again! Apologies for such a late update; I've been trying to do so many things at once. This a long chapter which only got longer when I went back to edit it. I would like to credit Riku-Aura 777 and DigitalPhantom for beta'ing and/or helping me sort things out for this and future chapters._

_Which beings another note: it may be a awhile before I update again, because I would like to finish writing out the rough for the final chapter before typing up the rough for chapter 4, because the details of chapter 5 will influence the details of chapter 4._

_In the meantime I'll be going to the Mid-Alantic Anime Convention tomorrow. Yay! I wonder if there will be any TWEWY cosplayers. I saw some at Kastucon...I'm betting on lotsa (D. G R A Y M A N) cosplayers. (Why does this system always remove this word/title whenever I type it here? I swear...)_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own TWEWY. Joshua causes enough trouble as a guest, much less as a permanent resident._**

_Enjoy_

**Scale 3: The Real Game**

Clairvoyance could be so annoying.

It wasn't like he didn't appreciate the power. It was often useful, such as forewarning the consequences of a disastrous choice, or revealing a traitor before their plans could unfold. Then he could smirk as his bewildered foes wondered how he knew, before they broke down into static.

But just as often it would expose something inconsequential, like who would win a Tin Pin match, or that a sunny day would soon turn to rain, or that someone would put too much sugar in his coffee so he would have to fix it himself. It was harmless, even amusing, until something of greater importance happened in the same timeframe that his psychic powers hadn't bothered to warn him about. Then it just irritated him.

Regardless of the importance of the event, clairvoyance would not let itself be ignored. The vision would periodically repeat itself until either the situation actually occurred or the situation had been significantly altered, which usually resulted in another loop of visions. A vision of Beat tripping and falling flat on his face wasn't as funny the twentieth time as it was the first.

Of course there was the other end of the spectrum. It was distracting to see the world get destroyed while he was trying to eat his lunch. Now his fries were cold.

Joshua sighed, picking at the remains of his meal.

Many would say that he should stay in his home world in times of upcoming crisis, but the gray-maned boy found that a little dimension sight-seeing was an effective way to find a solution. If another dimension was experiencing a similar problem, then he could see what the natives of the dimension did to counter it. Then he could gather ideas and compare the results, and then use the best one in his own world.

Naturally the parallel universe had to be close enough to his own universe for this to work, so he was careful in which dimensions he selected. As much fun as it would be to watch Neku and his friends battle aliens in outer space with mecha suits, it wouldn't do him much good. This current one was a bit out of the way, really…

Having needlessly arranged his fries into a complex spiral pattern, the indigo-eyed boy picked up the tray and stuffed its contents into the nearest trash bin. He glanced outside.

To the normal eye, it was just the routine commotion at Shibuya Station. People were walking everywhere, talking on cellphones or hanging out with friends at the Statue of Hachiko. Joshua knew better than that, of course. Right outside the window of Sunshine Stationside, there and not there, a battle was raging.

It was Uzuki and Kariya versus the Noise, their forms half-transparent as they combated against the tattoo creatures. Technically they were in the Noise Plane and not the UG, but their Souls and the Noise's power left afterimages in the UG. He noted that they had no wings.

Huh, must still be Players in this world. Though it's a little odd that both are Players at once. Usually Kariya's a Reaper before Uzuki…

Well, it wasn't a set rule. It was just that he usually visited parallel dimensions close to his own, and one of the common parallels was that Kariya was a Reaper before Uzuki. It was nothing terribly important.

As Kariya electrocuted the last Dixiefrog, the two Players' forms soon materialized back on the UG Plane, though they remained invisible and untouchable to the people in the RG.

"Damn I hate Noise," Uzuki growled, holstering her gun. "Especially those stupid frogs. They're impossible to shoot!"

"Good thing you have me, huh?" Kariya answered casually, sticking a pop in his mouth and smirking.

"Don't get smart with me Koki," she replied, more annoyed than angry at the carrot-top's coy response. "Just a couple days ago you were flipping burgers at Sunshine."

"So? You were too."

"Well, yeah…but I was gonna be a manager!" the pink-haired teen snapped. "If it wasn't for those damn thugs-"

"I told you taking a shortcut through A-East was a bad idea."

"I'd gone through other times and I'd been okay!"

"Well, those were the other times," Kariya answered, before his bored expression grew more vicious. "Damn, I was only able to get one of them…"

"Huh? You knocked one out? I don't remember that."

"That's because you were dead."

"Oh."

Joshua smirked. It never failed to amaze him that the same people gravitated to each other, even under different circumstances in different universes. It might not be the same kind of relationship, but the bonds would still be there. The Uzuki of his world never called Kariya by his first name, for example, but here they were, together in this world too.

"So how'd you get the guy?" asked Uzuki.

"Shot him."

"Shot him?!" exclaimed Uzuki. "…Oh wait, you mean like in the leg or something, right?"

"Right between the eyes," the teen with the golden glasses answered, pointing at Uzuki and jerking his hand up like he had fired a gun.

Uzuki stared at her partner.

"…You serious?"

"Of course," Kariya replied. "I just saw my childhood friend shot dead by a bunch of hooligans. You think I was going to let that go?"

"But where'd you-"

"Those streets have a real bad rap these days. I brought my own gun."

"What?! But that's illegal!"

"It's illegal to defend myself?"

What a shock it was, what a disturbing fascination it was whenever you found out a person close to you wasn't the person you thought they were, Joshua mused. If you were lucky, you would see your partner's true self before you got too attached. Then you could decide whether you wanted to accept that person's real nature as part of your life. But many were not that lucky, he knew. Those people just had to adapt to each other and hope for the best.

"…But, what happened after you shot him?"

"I got shot too."

"Well that did you a world of good," Uzuki replied sarcastically.

"Sure it did," Kariya answered. "I now know I can fight to kill when I need to."

"…Hey, don't go all serial psychopath on me, okay?"

The carrot-top sighed, twirling his pop between his fingers.

"…Now really Uzuki," he began, his eyes on the pop instead of her. "What did you expect me to do?"

"I…well, I dunno. I mean…"

"It's not like you to be at a loss of words, Uzuki."

"Shut up, Koki!"

"But in all seriousness, we have the Reapers to deal with. The Noise are the big thing right now, but…"

"Yeah, you got a point," Uzuki answered. "Speaking of Reapers, what the hell is with today's mission?"

Kariya stuck the lollipop back in his mouth and flipped open his cellphone.

"Find the never-ending number's unrelated twin and take it to the marriage of 55 and 49" he read, shrugging and snapping the cellphone shut. "Doesn't make any more sense to me than it did earlier. Let's leave it alone."

"Leave it alone?!" the pink-haired Player exclaimed. "If we don't complete the objective then we'll get erased!"

"But we weren't able to figure out yesterday's objectives either, and we're still here."

"Maybe we can screw up one time without getting erased or something."

"Actually, it's because only one pair of Players need to complete the objective in order to pass."

Both Players spun around to see an orange-haired boy approaching them. Huge purple headphones masked his ears.

Joshua stared at him for a couple seconds, and then smiled.

_Well, well. How interesting. And useful._

"That said, if everybody sits around and nobody does the mission, then the timer runs out and everyone gets erased. So is it worth just sitting around and hoping someone else will figure it out?" the orange-haired boy continued, stopping his walk and raising his hand in salutation. "Oh, I'm Neku, by the way."

"I'm Uzuki, and the lazy bum over there is Kariya," the pink-haired Player answered, gesturing to her now-quiet partner. "I dunno about him, but I don't want to take the risk of being erased. Do you have any idea about the mis-"

"Where's your partner?" asked Kariya. "You couldn't have gotten this far without one."

"Yeah, about that…" Neku began, rubbing the back of his neck and looking up. "He's wandered off, again. After I told him not to, again. I just don't get that guy sometimes."

"Sounds like you got stuck with a lousy partner," Uzuki commented.

"Yeah…His name's Beat. He's real tall, built like a freaking football player, but he prefers skateboarding. Got a black cap that's way too big for his head, considering his lack of brains. See anybody like that hanging around?"

"Can't say we have," Uzuki replied. "But we've been busy trying not to get erased by Noise, so it's not like we've really been looking."

"Fair enough," Neku answered, stretching. "Say, can you guys help me find him? I mean, I don't really feel like erased by Noise today while I'm looking for him…"

"Well…" the violet-eyed girl began, before sighing. "Fine, just don't-"

"Just don't erase us when our backs are turned," interrupted Kariya, an unfriendly smile on his face. "Reaper."

"Reaper?!" exclaimed Uzuki. "But he doesn't have any-"

"Wings?" Kariya finished for her, keeping his russet eyes on the boy. "Well, neither do those Reapers who put up those invisible walls. Support Reapers, I think they're called. But you, kid, you're stronger than them, aren't you? Way stronger."

Neku smirked.

"What makes you think I'm a Reaper?"

"Because I saw you saying the same thing about a lost partner to another pair of Players the other day. I noticed they're not around today, but you are," Kariya explained. "That, and you seem rather lax about being left alone and helpless, supposedly. But more than anything, you've got a hell of a presence."

Neku sighed.

"Man, looks like the cover's blown. Oh well. This routine gets old after a couple of days."

"Are you going to show us your wings now?" asked Kariya. "I've heard the wings of a strong Reaper are different than a regular one's."

Neku shrugged.

"I have no wings to show."

Joshua held his chin.

He has no wings to show? What does he mean by that?

Neku snapped his fingers. A swarm of Noise symbols formed around Uzuki and Kariya.

"Anyway, you guys can have fun with the Noise. See ya."

He turned around, took a few steps, stopped, decided to float instead, and glided away.

Uzuki and Kariya backed up against each other, as the Noise began to close in.

"Damn brat!" Uzuki hissed. "To think that I believed him! I'm gonna shoot him dead next time I see him!"

"And you accuse me of having murderous intent," Kariya answered dryly, as the two of them were whisked away by the Noise symbols.

But Joshua had no interest in their upcoming life-and-death struggle. He followed Neku the Reaper instead.

IIIIII

One of the many advantages to being a Composer was the ability to adjust one's vibe, or presence. This let him choose what dimension layer, or dimension, one wanted to be in. Reapers in general were able to do this, but to a strict limit, only being able to go back and forth from the UG to RG.

All Joshua had to do to hide himself from the other inhabitants of this world, including this Reaper Neku, was set his vibe to a high level, or to go onto a high plane of the dimension. None but the strongest and the most intuitive would sense him, and even then it would take some effort.

It was in this high-vibe state that the gray-haired boy tracked Neku, who obliviously gravitated to darksome Udagawa. At a graffiti-blessed wall waited a muscular teen, rocking his skateboard back and forth boredly. His mid-size Reaper wings flapped and twitched listlessly.

He suddenly perked up when he noticed the orange-haired boy's approach.

"Yo!" Beat greeted, before cocking his head to look behind Neku. "Hey, where's the Players, man?"

"Didn't come. Lollipop guy saw right through it," answered Neku casually, leaning on the adjacent wall. "That dude is smarter than he looks."

"Dude that blows," Beat answered, fiddling with his large chain necklace. "I had all these awesome Noise thought up for them and everything."

"You were thinking?" Neku asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, so?" Beat replied with a puzzled look.

Neku sighed.

"Anyway, it's no big deal," he replied. "We can use those Noise for something else. Besides, we've already scored a bunch of points this Game."

"Yeah, we tight yo!"

It was amusing, Joshua thought, how casual the two Reapers were about hunting and erasing the Players. Players always despised the heartlessness of the Reapers, until they became Reapers themselves. How quickly they would turn.

"Hey man, you see what Shiki sent as today's mission?" asked Beat.

"Pretty pathetic kiss-up to the Composer, huh?" Neku replied, smirking again.

A kiss-up to the Composer, huh? thought Joshua. That must mean the Composer here is…

A flash came across his mind of a silver-haired young man, dressed in black, shouting algebraic equations through his megaphone at passersby, while sitting on a dump heap he claimed was art.

Joshua felt an amused, perhaps psychotic, smile slip over his face.

Oh dear. Sho Minamimoto as Composer. This world won't last long.

Neku sighed as his smirk faded away.

"…She hasn't really been the same since she evolved," the orange-haired Reaper added, looking up to the sky. "Shiki, I mean."

"I know what you mean, man," responded Beat, also looking up and rubbing the back of his neck. "It was a total shock when she consumed Eri instead of the other way 'round. I mean, she was always in Eri's shadow, yo."

"…That's probably why she won instead of Eri."

"Huh? Whacha mean, man?" asked Beat, turning his gaze to his partner.

"She hated being in Eri's shadow," Neku explained. "She never said anything bad about Eri, but after a while I could see it in her eyes. But all that anger…it's gotten worse now, if anything. I don't know if she's angry at herself or if Eri's mad at her or what, but she's gotten so nasty lately…"

"Hey cheer up," Beat spoke up, summoning a smile. "She and Eri are probably still getting used to being one person, yo. Ain't it supposed to take a long time?"

"Yeah…"

"And it's only been a couple of months, right? Just give it some time."

Neku smiled.

"I guess you're right."

Beat flipped his skateboard with his foot, and then snatched it out of the air mid-flip.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat! I'm hungry, yo!"

"You're always hungry."

"Hey, I gotta get lotsa nutrition if I'm gonna consume you someday," Beat answered, smirking. "I ain't gonna get no nutrition from you. You ain't nothin' but skin and bones."

Neku smirked.

"Yeah, like you'll be able to consume me. You're the one who's gonna get eaten."

"Oh yeah?" Beat challenged, wings flaring out. "You can't even form wings, man!"

"I don't need any stupid wings!" Neku retorted, his feet rising off the ground. "At least I have a brain!"

"Wingless!"

"Brainless!"

"Wingless!"

"Brainless!"

Their words were threatening, Joshua noted, but the two Reapers were grinning mischievously, like siblings challenging one another to a dare. Still, it was strange. Why didn't Neku have wings, even though he was a Reaper with good power? Was it something that applied to all Nekus, or just an odd trait of this one?

"Seriously though, I'm hungry," Beat stated abruptly, as his wings relaxed.

"Yeah, me too," admitted Neku. "How about we go to Sunshine? Haven't been there in awhile."

"Sure," replied Beat. "I've been dying for a Double Burger anyway."

"How can you be dying for a Double Burger when you're already dead?"

The larger Reaper looked genuinely puzzled.

"…I don't know, man! Let's just go eat!"

IIIIII

Along the way back Joshua spotted Kariya and Uzuki again, though Neku and Beat were too focused on getting food to notice them. The two Players were conversing with a red-hooded person, a lowly Support Reaper.

"…We hafta do what?" asked Uzuki, hands on her hips and eye twitching.

But Kariya wasn't listening. He was looking in Joshua's direction, russet eyes confused and suspicious. His gaze didn't leave until Uzuki gave him a jab in the ribs, telling him to pay attention.

_Did he see me?_ wondered Joshua. _No…but he definitely_ sensed _me. And he's only a Player in this world. Impressive indeed._

The Player duo and lowly Reaper were soon lost in the crowd.

_Hmm…if worst comes to worst, I might be able to use Kariya. He's definitely got the power, and while he doesn't like evolving he can evolve. Of course convincing him to evolve will be a problem…I could try to trick him into it, but Kariya would probably see through it, and his great resistance would make it difficult to force it. Though I could use Uzuki…_

And so he mused on, until he found himself at Sunshine Stationside once again.

The two death-dealers entered the fast-food store, Beat's wings miraculously vanishing as they entered. They walked up to the counter, unexpectedly empty, then strained their necks to see if anyone was in sight in the back.

"Hey, where's everybody at?" Neku asked an employee with pale blonde hair who was sweeping the floor.

"Like I know," the blonde curtly answered, pushing up her glasses. "Probably out back getting a smoke."

"Go figure," Neku replied, unfazed by her sour attitude.

Beat turned back to the counter and took a deep breath.

"Yo! Mr. H!" he bellowed. "We're hungry man!"

Joshua halted, and then struggled to suppress his giggles.

_Sanae, here?_

"He's not here yet!" a girl's voice yelled from the back.

"I am now," replied an older, gruffer voice. "Any good horoscopes Ai?"

"Yours says to reconnect with old friends and stick by them. The near future may deride previous plans, but you'll be good if you take it as it comes," the girl's voice answered. "Mine says now is a good time for change. Should I dye my hair red or blonde?"

"Well…"

"Mr. H," Neku drawled boredly, leaning on the counter.

"Fine, fine. I'll get back to you on that, Ai." the gruff voice replied, as a lean man with black hair and a five-o-clock shadow stepped out, smirking. He took off his sunglasses and stuffed them into his pocket, revealing dark gray eyes that saw past the young Reapers to the gray-haired boy just behind him.

"Hello impatient sirs. Long time no see. For here or to go?"

Joshua smirked. Of course Sanae had no trouble detecting him, considering who he was.

IIIIII

_"Mr. H," he had asked, naively._

_"Hmm?" the coffee shop owner replied, filling his mug._

_"Is the world…" he began._

_"Is the world what?" asked Mr. H, the cup now full. "Pointless? Destined? Torture? Fun?"_

_He took a sip, while Joshua stayed silent._

_"Well Josh, that's all up to you."_

IIIIII

Neku and Beat were now seated at one of the booths, their meals steaming before them. Beat was devouring his much-coveted Double Burger, while Neku was popping nuggets into his mouth. Their conversation drifted from possible Game winners (Neku was betting on Lollipop and his partner. Beat had his bets on a gangster guy named Sota and his girlfriend), to who might evolve or get promoted (Makoto's working hard, while Eiji has been acting strange lately. Of course 777 has been due for awhile too…), to Tin Pin strategies ("You gotta ease up on the power, Beat. You'll stop overshooting so much."), and wondering how in the Underground they were supposed to solve that math problem the Composer had scrawled all over the walls of Spain Hill.

"I mean, whoever gets it first gets a promotion, right?" asked Beat, his mouth full of mashed hamburger.

"Yeah, but the thing is figuring out how to solve it," replied Neku, throwing another nugget into his mouth and chewing. "It's not like you can look up the answer in the back of the book."

"Dude, is that how you passed your math classes?"

"Yep."

"Man, I tried in those classes!" moaned Beat. "…I should've thought of that. I always got bad grades in math no matter what I did."

"Well, not all the answers were in the back," Neku pointed out, sipping on his soda. "But at least I had an idea of what the answers should look like from the answers that were already there. That goes a long way sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess so," Beat answered, picking up a fry but then dropping it. "You go ahead and have the fries. I can't eat no more."

The orange-haired boy gave the muscular teen a disbelieving look.

"…You sure?" he asked carefully. "'Cause I'm not buying anything else for you later."

"I'm sure, man. 'Sides, I got money. I can get something else later."

"If you say so," responded Neku, beginning to nibble on a fry. "But I wish the Grim Heaper would've left some formulas or something. How do you figure out what 2-tangant to the fifty-seventh power of the sin of 10 divided by…"

Joshua couldn't help but smile at Neku's bored expression, while Beat stared at his partner like he was turning into a Noise before his eyes.

Then Neku abruptly broke over rambling recitation, looking in Joshua's direction. He turned and smiled.

"Hey, Josh!"

The violet-eyed boy jumped despite himself. Neku shouldn't even be able to detect him, much less see and recognize him. Sanae and even Kariya made sense, but not…well, then again, he was a Reaper in this world, and Neku had impressive Imagination and Soul to start with…maybe it wasn't such a stretch then. He quietly reprimanded himself, smiled, and stepped forward.

"Hey."

But his weren't his words. They were spoken with his voice, but they weren't his words.

He felt the surreal sensation of someone passing through him, an occurrence which wasn't unusual when he set himself on a higher vibe. Technically he didn't really exist on this plane; he was just watching it.

What was unusual was feeling and seeing himself go through him, a self with brown, not gray, hair. A blonde girl followed him, a girl that was familiar but forgotten. His first partner, he realized. They would both have Reaper wings if they weren't in the restaurant.

"How's it going Neku?" greeted the brown-haired Joshua cheerfully, as he and the girl strolled over to the other two Reapers. "You guys getting a lot of points?"

"You bet," Neku answered, looking smug. "You guys?"

Joshua silently observed the chattering Reapers. How strange it felt.

He had been that person once, so long ago.

IIIIII

_"Josh. Josh, let's go say hello to the teacher."_

_The brown-haired, blue-eyed child of five years hid behind his mother, his tall, beautiful mother. He looked up to her timidly._

_Her face highlighted by the bright sun, she smiled._

_"It's okay, Josh. It's a wonderful world out there. It's time to say hello to it."_

_IIIIII_

_There was something wrong with his blood. That was all he understood at the time. That, and that there were people running around that no one else could see._

_There were two kinds of those other people. One kind had funny-looking black wings, while the other kind didn't. The winged people would hunt the wingless people, attacking them with strange, part-tattoo monsters._

_Joshua didn't understand why they hunted the wingless people. Had they been bad and lost their wings? Was there something wrong with them? Or were the winged people just mean like the schoolyard bullies? But then sometimes a wingless person would become a winged person, and then they started hunting wingless people too. What did that mean?_

_He couldn't ask anyone because they didn't believe him. It must have been the sickness after all. Bad blood could do weird things to your brain, they said. And what a disturbing thing for a child to imagine, people fighting and killing each other! Here child, take this pill with your grape juice…_

_He never tried asking either type of these people why they fought. Both kinds were scary._

_IIIIII_

_Joshua's family was a close one, closer than most modern families. He even had both of his parents, a beautiful mother who worked as a model and a diligent father who had a good-paying accounting job. When everyone else was arguing, his family was happy even though he was sickly. He took a certain pride in that._

_He was never good at making friends. Aside from spectral sightings and his ill blood, which didn't help matters, he just wasn't that sociable. He preferred curling up inside with a book instead of playing outside. But his parents understood that, so they gave him lots of books. They even didn't mind if his grades weren't perfect. They figured that his illness made it harder for him to stay awake in class or while studying, though he rarely had that problem._

_He didn't need anybody else but them._

IIIIII

"Say, what's your Noise going to be?" the younger Joshua asked Neku.

It was a question commonly asked by Reapers. Of course no one knew what kind of Noise resided in them until they began to evolve, but that didn't keep Reapers from wondering and guessing. Sometimes bets were made.

"Me? A lion," Neku answered.

"What? You ain't no lion!" Beat protested, scratching his arm. "You like…like…"

"Like a what?" Neku challenged.

"Like…a mink or something."

"A mink?! I hate those things!"

"Well you're all quick and skinny like a mink Noise, and you can fly without wings like them," Beat answered.

"She's the mink," Neku corrected, pointing to the young Joshua's partner. She smirked in reply.

"So what's Josh?" asked Beat.

"Josh's a squirrel."

"A squirrel?" the brown-haired boy asked, an amused eyebrow raised. "What makes me a squirrel?"

"…I dunno. You just strike me as a squirrel for some reason."

"If I'm a squirrel then Beat is a frog."

"What?! I ain't no frog! I'm a Elephant, yo!"

"…You're a Rhino," Neku countered. "At least you got the brains of one."

"Thanks yo!" Beat replied, before his goofy smile slipped. "Hey, wait a minute…"

Joshua smirked. Actually, he would be the mink. It came so suddenly, the sinewy Noise that overwhelmed him and sent him rushing toward his partner, his helpless partner…

Of course, after many evolutions, now Joshua commanded the Noise, to the point where the Mink form was shed in favor of human form. There was no difference between the will of a Composer and the will of his Noise.

And an Angel, the one rank above him? They were Noise and human at once, with no division, letting them have perfect influence over the lesser.

IIIIII

_One day on Udagawa Joshua saw one of the wingless people get swallowed by a shark monster. The other wingless one, a man in his forties, finished off the creature with a lightning bolt, but he was still alone._

_He just stood there for awhile, looking at the ground, when he happened to notice Joshua staring. Then the wingless winced as he flickered._

_"Heh…this is what I get for hoping…for a second chance…" he continued, his body distorting. "But hell…what do I want a second chance for?…the world's an…awful place…"_

_The man disbanded into static._

_Joshua stared at the spot where the man had been, as dozens of people walked over where he used to be. He mulled over what he had said._

_"The world…is bad?"_

_Joshua knew that there were mean people in the world. There were lots of mean people. But despite those people, the world itself…_

_Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump._

_"You could see him?"_

_Joshua looked up to see a lanky man with sunglasses and black hair. His expression was serious, but not threatening. And, more importantly, he knew about the man too. He could see those other people too! That was how he met Sanae Hanekoma, also known as Mr. H._

_That changed it all. Even more than he knew._

_Suddenly there was someone who not only believed but also understood his visions, and explained them to him. The wingless people were Players, people who had died but possessed impressive Imagination and Soul. They played to get their wishes granted by the Composer. The winged people were Reapers, and they hunted Players for survival._

_It was still scary to Joshua really, the idea that these fights were part of a game. But it was less scary than not understanding at all._

_Mr. H owned a coffee shop named WildKat Café, and it soon became a frequent stop for Joshua after school. It was also a popular spot among the Reapers, so the brown-haired boy ended up chatting with and befriending some of them as well (their first reactions at being "discovered" by a RG boy were always fun). He never cared much for the beverages, but he ordered and drank them anyway._

_It also provided a good excuse to stay away from home._

_His happy family wasn't happy anymore. Perhaps, he thought later, it never was._

_His mother grew irritable, for there was a shortage of money. His father was at home more often, but he preferred the TV to the family. At first Joshua blamed the TV for their scuffles. Everyone knows TV is bad for you. That's why he rarely watched it._

_Then, as he caught his mother one day muttering about the price of his new medicine, and about the doctor bills in general, he realized that he was the one to blame. His parents didn't have as much money because of him. They couldn't do what they wanted because they always had to take care of him. He couldn't even help out much because he was always sick and tired._

_They never expected anything of him, because he was always sick and tired._

_His bad blood started getting worse after that._

_IIIIII_

_"…Can't you stay a little longer?" he asked her, looking up at her from the stiff hospital bed. The drugs he had taken were making him sleepy._

_"Sorry, honey," his mother replied, smiling. "I have to go to work."_

_"But…that's not fair…"_

_"The world's not fair, honey," she answered, the sweet smile never slipping. "The world is an awful place."_

_She stood up and rustled his brown hair._

_"Now get plenty of rest and take your medicine like a good boy. You're going to be allright."_

_She picked up her purse and left his room, closing the door as she left._

_With nothing else to look at, Joshua stared up at the ceiling. Soon it began to swirl and blur strangely._

_'The world…is awful?' he wondered drowsily, fearfully. 'But how am I supposed to be allright in a world that is…awful…?'_

IIIIII

Beat was in the middle of a loud laughing fit when he suddenly grew quiet. His gaze was fixed outside.

"What's wrong?" asked Neku, before glancing outside himself. "…Oh."

"What's up?" asked the younger Joshua.

"His little sister's out there,' Neku explained. "Rhyme."

Joshua turned to see the little blonde girl cheerfully chatting with some of her friends, as the group sipped on cola and ice-cream. Her smile was genuine, perfect.

Joshua despised her type, her pure, uncontrollable type.

"She still in the RG?" asked the brown-haired Joshua.

"Yeah," Neku went on, as Rhyme and her friends wandered out of sight. "Beat died when she was two, so she never really knew him."

"Died of what?"

"Choked on a hot dog," Neku answered with the faintest smile.

"That's why I don't like hot dogs!" Beat bellowed, paying an angry glance at his mildly amused partner. "And it ain't funny man!"

"Compared to how most people die it is."

Death for Reapers was a trivial issue, Joshua knew, except if it was violent or, like Beat, cut them away from someone or something important. How one died was as casual a question as what one had for lunch earlier.

"What about you Neku?" asked the blue-eyed Joshua. "How'd you die?"

"The Composer shot me," he stated flatly, glaring outside. "I was messing with one of his 'works of art'."

"You mean his pile of garbage."

"Yeah," Neku answered. "I don't get why he has to have them everywhere."

"Because he's a narcissistic math freak?" the young Joshua offered.

"Probably," Neku replied blandly. "So how'd you end up dead?"

The young Joshua smiled.

"Murder."

IIIIII

_Joshua didn't remember much about those months, maybe years, in the hospital. Really, all he remembered was not remembering, or not remembering rightly._

_Someone would walk in, and they would look so familiar, but he could neither link a name or a past to the face. Sometimes he would mix up one person up with someone else, or it seemed like a person would transform into another person before his eyes, so he couldn't tell which one they really were. Then there were the times when he would finally get the name, the face, and the past right, and he would talk with them, sometimes for a while, before he realized there was no one there at all._

_They said it was the disease's side effect, a case of porphyria. When he thought back on it, he suspected the drugs._

_Then one day Mr. H was there, standing beside the bed as he woke from another mystified slumber. At least, he thought it was Mr. H. There were a couple times when Mr. H's form shifted to his mother's, so he wasn't sure._

_"Hey J, long time no see," the older man greeted casually. "If I'd known you'd been here, I'd have visited sooner. You look doggone awful."_

_"…It's okay," Joshua managed to croak out. "Everything's okay. It's always been okay."_

_He let out a nervous giggle, though he didn't know why._

_"Why wouldn't everything be okay?"_

_Another giggling fit seized him._

_"Geez, what do they have you on J?" asked Mr. H, his usual smile falling away._

_"I dunno…" answered Joshua, his giggles evolving into laughter. "I…I really don't…"_

_Mr. H watched him in silence as the mad amusement possessed him, and then melted away. Now Joshua was just tired._

_"I don't…want to be here…" he began. "Home…I want to go home…"_

_He stared up at the ceiling, suddenly excited, suddenly scared._

_"I want to go home…I want to go home…I want to go home…"_

_He turned to Mr. H._

_"But…where is home…again?"_

_Mr. H was soundless, his expression unreadable._

_IIIIII_

_The next time Joshua woke up, it was not in a hospital bed. Instead he was on a couch, a bright blue couch so overstuffed that it threatened to swallow his small frame. The rest of the room was a blur of colorful objects, and it was possessed by the scent of coffee and stale pizza. The mist that had cloaked his mind had lessened._

_"Hey, you're awake," he heard Mr. H speak, the dark-haired adult slipping into his unsteady view. He held a small cup of pumpkin soup in one of his hands, its steam curling and uncurling as it ascended._

_"Where…" Joshua began._

_"We're at my place," he answered. "Fixed a little something for you. You want some?"_

_"Sure…"_

_Mr. H helped Joshua sit up so he could take a few sips of the soup. It tasted a little funny, but that was probably because he had eaten hospital food for so long. Once he was done Joshua laid down again._

_The older man pulled up a chair from a nearby table and sat down next to the couch. He was unusually quiet as he watched the boy._

_"…Hey, you don't need to be beside me every moment," Joshua assured. "I just sleep mostly. Nothing exciting."_

_Mr. H said nothing._

_"…What?"_

_He still stayed quiet as he fumbled for something in his dark vest. He pulled out a small object, which the adult studied somberly._

_"…What's that?"_

_Mr. H showed him the object, a small black pin. A graffiti-style white skull was imprinted on its shiny surface._

_Joshua's eyes widened. Those were the pins worn by the wingless of the Game, the Players. It was their invitation to the Game, and a second chance._

_"Mine…? I'm…invited?"_

_Mr. H nodded, still keeping his silence as he placed the pin in the palm of Joshua's hand._

_Joshua closed his hand around the pin, savoring its coolness against the heat of his skin._

_"Will I feel better…once I get to play the Game?"_

_"…Of course. You won't be restrained by your body," Mr. H replied, breaking his odd silence. "Not that it's going to be easy. You'll have to fight the Noise and the Reapers. But it's still a chance."_

_Joshua smiled._

_"Thank you…though it will probably be…a while yet…before…"_

_A hot pain was erupting in his stomach, the toxic heat swiftly consuming the toxic blood in his veins. He could barely breathe, much less speak. His hand clutched the Player Pin._

_"Actually…"_

_Joshua felt a hand rest over his own._

_Joshua gazed up to the black-haired man, his eyes watching him sadly and his wings…wings? He had wings now? …Yes he had wings, wide white wings just like a bird's. They weren't kinda like a bird's, tattoo facsimiles, but actually like a bird's. Like an angel's._

_"It won't be much longer."_

IIIIII

Beat's broke into obnoxious laughter.

The rest of the Reapers, including that other Joshua, stared at the muscular teen in confusion and slight alarm.

"What?" asked Neku, an eyebrow raised.

Beat managed to point out the window, still doubled over in a laughing fit. The others turned to look. So did Joshua.

He chuckled.

Uzuki and Kariya were passing by…in Mr. Mew suits. Kariya looked annoyed, while Uzuki appeared downright angry. The latter was carrying an apple pie in her hands, handling it like it might break.

The others Reapers burst into laughter as well, while Mr. H smirked.

It was a good thing that Uzuki couldn't see them laughing at her, Joshua thought.

IIIIII

Joshua studied the mathematical ravings slapped on the wall of Spain Hill, the mark of this world's Composer. Nearby his other, younger self played Tin Pin with the other Reapers.

He paid them another glance.

It's been such a long time.

He didn't remember the girl partner's name. He remembered her only as the First. The first consumed. There had been so many after her, he couldn't tell which part of him was once her.

He wasn't sure where Joshua ended and they began, now that he thought of it. Were there any boundaries at this point? Did it even matter? And here he was, plotting to add yet another person into this cocktail of Soul. Well, it was to save the world.

He smiled and shook his head.

Such was the world. Consume or be consumed. Stand by, and you would stay still. Chances are that someone would find you anyway, and it was back to the game of dominance and submission.

Game. Maybe that was the real Game. If you consumed enough, you would rise in ranks, until your earthly spirit was transmuted into a divine one, an Angel, like Mr. H. Then you would ascend to the Angel Plane, the perfect winner.

As a Composer, he was just a wing-beat away from Heaven, with his almost-Angel wings. Almost.

IIIIII

_Why does that math freak hafta make Taboo Noise?!_ complained Beat in the Noise zone, ramming into a Taboo Wolf with his skateboard. _It makes it hard for us to do our jobs, yo!_

**_Because he likes being a pain in the ass._** Neku guessed, frying another Taboo Wolf with lightning.

Joshua was watching him from nearby, as he had been doing for the past couple of days. He was getting impatient. The vibes of Soul were increasing in power and flux, but there was still no sign of either Reaper evolving. Of course he could interfere, like he did in the last world, but he'd rather not. That had been tactless. But he didn't have weeks to wait either…

_I'm gonna tear him up, man! He's always screwing with us! I sw-_

Beat's wings suddenly flared out in the middle of a backward flip. He gasped, his skateboard falling to the ground.

Joshua smiled. It was about time.

**_Beat?_**

His partner was silent at first, floating upside down.

_…We ready for this?_

**_Huh? Ready for what? All the Noise are gone._**

_…Yo, man…_

He looked down, the whites of his eyes turning black. Of course Neku couldn't see that, but Joshua knew he could sense the shift in vibe by the way his body tensed.

_…We ready for this?_

Beat's wings abruptly grew, the black appendages stretching out and flickering. The muscular teen spun around and upward, his pupils now giving off a sharp yellow glow.

Suddenly Neku was swathed with a bright blue aura, the beginning of consumption.

That was fast, Joshua mused. But then again, the aggressive, impulsive types usually did switch over fast, unlike calculating types like Kariya. What would Neku do now, he wondered, when faced with the truth? Being the consumed was not the best way to start, but it could be reversed if Neku had enough willpower…

Beat dove down, tearing through the bottom of his dimension and into Neku's. His wingless partner stared dumbly at the evolving Reaper that was supposed to be his friend, and barely collected his senses in time to evade the other's crash landing.

As Beat emerged from the storm of dust, loose purple tattoo lines materialized and coiled around his arms. Overcome, the arms were transmuted into huge claws. Black tattoo marks smoldered under his white shirt.

_So Beat's Noise form is a Grizzly, Joshua noted. It wouldn't have been his first guess, but it wouldn't have been his last either. The blue of his irises had shrunk, and Joshua knew that they would keep retreating into the yellow of his pupil until his inner Noise either consumed him or Neku._

Beat looked up and snarled.

Neku took a step back, and then his own expression hardened as he summoned a stream of fire. The evolving Reaper swiftly flew to the side to avoid the flames, so Neku snuffed out the burning attack and called down lightning bolts instead.

Beat evaded the first thunderbolt but not the second, which stunned him and caused him to crash into a wall. Neku rushed in for a slash attack. The transforming Reaper recovered quickly, however, and lunged for Neku as soon as he got too close.

Hastily Neku created a barrier of flame around himself, blocking Beat's rush. If Beat's arms weren't consumed by tattoos, the sheer heat would have caused him to recoil. But Beat paid little mind to the torrid shield, and sliced at it furiously. Now black stripe tattoos were forming on his sides and neck.

Neku glared at his half-Noise opponent from the encasement of the flames, his arms crossed protectively in front of him. He was panting from the effort of maintaining the barrier.

Joshua watched silently, his arms folded and his mouth a thin line.

_You'll be consumed at this rate, Neku. Better take a more offensive approach if you want to survive. Aim for the wings._

The blue aura around Neku expanded, and the barrier dissolved. Beat attempted a swipe at the vulnerable Reaper, but Neku sped forward and rammed into Beat's stomach before he had the chance. Neku then knocked him back with a series of slash attacks. He hadn't been able to knock him back enough to avoid his countering claw slash, however, and Neku soon found himself flying into the nearest wall. Neku staggered back up, surrounding himself briefly with a green healing glow, and launched another stream of fire.

Beat slammed his tattoo paws on the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked Neku off his feet. Neku barely got his fire barrier up in time to block the evolving Noise's blows.

Joshua smiled mirthlessly.

_Are you waiting for him to have mercy on you? That's not gonna happen Neku. This isn't Beat. This is Beat's Noise. Confront it, or it's all over._

The next slash broke through the barrier, and the paw slammed Neku downward. The other paw pinned Neku on the ground, his partner snarling above him.

Neku's expression shifted from shock, to fear, then, as red tattoos pulsed briefly across his face, a cool fury.

Joshua smirked.

_So you're finally serious are you?_

Neku struck Beat with a point-blank lightning blast, knocking the half-Noise Reaper off him. Getting up and raising his hand, a nearby vending machine was levitated at Neku's mental command. Thrusting his arm forward, the soda-selling contraption followed suit and rammed into Beat, trapping him underneath the huge object.

Then Neku closed his eyes, put his hand in front of him, and clenched his fist. Part of Beat's wing crumpled. The evolving Reaper yelled, a cry more beastly than human. Then the wing shattered from the supernatural pressure, and the fragments shot everywhere. One black piece struck Neku's right shoulder, but he hardly seemed to notice, his eyes deadlocked on the target. The tattoos flashed across his visage again as the blue aura around him lessened.

Joshua smiled.

_That's it. The wings are the source of a Reaper's powers. If you break them, then they will be rendered powerless and unable to control the power flow. The consumption will be reversed._

Bit by bit the wings were smashed under the invisible grip, Neku's face unreadable as the yells became weaker and more human. The azure aura around Neku faded, with a twin aura enveloping the motionless Beat instead.

Lowering his hand, Neku slowly walked to where his fallen companion lay. He raised the vending machine over his partner and tossed it to the side carelessly.

Beat was still conscious, but flickering violently. The tattoos on his body had broken down, peeling off him like old paint. His usual black cap had half-fallen off, making his blonde hair and blue eyes easier to see.

Those blue eyes were looking at Neku sleepily.

Neku stopped.

"…Hey."

"…Hey," the de-winged Reaper answered weakly.

Both were quiet for a few moments.

"…Good match…yo."

"…Yeah, you too."

Beat dissolved into static, and the blue aura was absorbed into Neku's body. He gasped as the red tattoos appeared once again, lingering a little longer this time before they faded.

Joshua smiled.

_So this is it. Finally._

Neku started shivering, his eyes shutting tight as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Parts of the orange-haired boy were flickering slightly.

_So what will your Noise form be? A wolf? A raven? What will your wings look like?_

Neku let out a yell, as his body flickered more violently. The red tattoos crept onto his face and stayed there.

Joshua watched for a few more moments, and then his eyes narrowed.

_For that matter…where are his wings? The wings are usually the first thing to form during a transformation. Even if he had trouble forming them before, he should have no trouble now. He shouldn't have much choice, really…_

Neku was yelling louder now. The red tattoos were forced back as a black aura swallowed him.

Joshua stared.

_What?! What kind of Soul energy is that?!_

The orange-haired boy clutched his chest.

_Something's wrong. It shouldn't be hurting Neku like this. And there should be wings…why are there no wings?_

Joshua noticed his native self and his nameless partner running over to Neku, catching him as he began to fall. The black aura abruptly dissolved.

_What is this? Would this have happened to Beat if he had consumed Neku instead? But nothing like this happened to Shiki in that other world when I forced her to consume Neku…_

Everything started to shake, causing everyone but Joshua to be rocked off his or her feet. The quakes were so strong that Joshua felt them even at his high frequency. The skies warped, shifting from dull gray to static to scarlet red.

Joshua gaped wide-eyed at the sky.

_My God, is that-_

A huge black shade filled the crimson sky, blotting out the sun. A deep, demonically melodious cry bellowed from it as flame-like tattoos slithered across its massive body. Once again the world trembled.

"What the hell is that?!" his younger self exclaimed, his Reaper wings flapping in alarm.

For once Joshua was speechless.

He couldn't believe that he was actually looking at it. He had seen it so many times in his visions, but seeing it in reality was a completely different experience.

Well, at least it wasn't in his reality. Yet.

As the fiendish song finished, the sky dissolved into static. Several of the buildings began to flicker and break down as well. Even the trio of Reapers were flickering, hurriedly fleeing the scene with the unconscious Neku.

_Damn…I can't face it now. Not at my power level…_

Bits of street began to crack and float up to the destroyed sky, where the creature loomed. In the distance he saw a six-winged Reaper fly up, the lower part of the figure already lion Noise.

_…Good luck, Composer Minamimoto. You're going to need it._

Joshua forced his frequency even higher, tuning himself out of the apocalyptic dimension.

_IIIIII_

_I hope the flashbacks for Joshua sound plausible. I wanted to avoid the typical abusive/neglected parents stereotype when doing his mother and father. The brief rambling on Angels is purely theory. I wish I could have done more with Mr. H and Minamimoto, and with Neku and Beat in general, but the chapter was already so long..._

_Btw, bonus cookies to whoever figured out what Kariya and Uzuki's mission was XP._

_Next Scale: Grace, Period - Neku vs Joshua!_

_Cya!_


	4. Grace, Period: Neku vs Joshua

_The end is coming! Not yet, but soon...final chapter is typed and will soon be sent to betas, so you won't have to wait for it too long...oh, were you expecting the end of our world instead? Sorry to disappoint; it's still here XP._

_Another lengthy chapter, though not as long as the last one. Mostly explanations this time._

_From here on, I will put quotes in front of the chapters. Eariler chapters will be edited with quotes later._

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own_ _TWEWY. Though having a set of Reapers under my command would be nice...assuming they would listen and not lounge around playing Tin Pin all day..._

_IIIIII_

_"The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care." - Buddha_

_"If you judge people, you have no time to love them" - Mother Theresa_

**Scale 4: Grace, Period**

The traveler wasn't in the best of moods when he arrived in the next world. The gray-maned boy folded his arms, glaring at the concrete bridge of Miyashita Park below.

"I don't understand it," Joshua muttered. "Neku was about to evolve, was _evolving_, but then that strange aura appeared and _reversed_ it. What could reverse an evolution when it's progressed that far?"

He rubbed his forehead, trying to drive off the inevitable migraine and general body aches that occurred with a sudden dimension jump.

The stress of dimension traveling was starting to catch up to him, he could tell. Soon he would have to return to his own world, with or without his answer, or wait for Mr. H to pick him up in a strange dimension. The latter wasted valuable time, and, more importantly, would be rather embarrassing.

He scanned the expanse of the park. Normally this was an area where Reapers gathered and thrived, hanging out here to play invisible pranks on the living. But the park was unusually empty, save for a lone Reaper uneasily stalking through the grasses. Such a lack of Reapers was strange, unless they were gathering elsewhere.

Suddenly another Reaper erupted from a bush, wings spread and flickering in the rapture of evolving. Screaming, the sane Reaper fled from the other, until he was caught and forced into the Noise dimension. There, he would be consumed, or forced to consume.

Now Joshua understood, still holding his head. It must be time for mass consumption.

During particularly stressful Games or other events, many Reapers were pushed past their physical or emotional limits, but didn't actually start to evolve until the incident passed. Usually this was because most of their energy required for evolving was needed for coping with the current situation. Thus a mass evolution is triggered afterward, which soon is followed with mass consumption, and mass fear.

Many Reapers, especially the younger ones, do not fully understand the act of consumption and evolving, if they know about it at all. Consumption itself is not mentioned in Reaper public, a forbidden subject. On the rare occasion where it slips out, the younger ones rarely believe the details. You have to eat your partner? That's absurd!

Then mass consumption occurs, and suddenly everyone understands that the concept of consumption is to be taken literally, and not literally. Many evolving Reapers, lacking partners except for their shadows, seek out other Reapers to consume. The other Reapers, most of whom do not want to be consumed, hide. Hence, the mass fear.

A mass consumption had been starting in his own world before he left, actually. The berserk-inducing Red Skull Pins had caused many Reapers to go past their limits. He wondered if the same thing had happened here too. This world was close to his own, at least much closer than the previous one.

The throbbing in Joshua's head and limbs lessened. The mania of mass consumption, terrifying as it was, was a necessary part of the Reaper life. This was what their little "Reaper games" of tag and hide-and-seek trained them for.

Of more immediate and pressing concern was Neku, and the apparent block on his power.

"Now, does this apply to all Nekus, or was that just a flaw of that Neku?" the indigo-eyed boy mused. "That last world _was_ a bit out of the way…"

"Well, it seems to apply to my Neku too, if you're curious."

Joshua spun around to find another Joshua floating right beside him, smiling. This native Joshua appeared to be the same age as he was. When had _he_ arrived?

"Is that so?" asked Joshua, regaining his usual aloofness and giving his other self a condescending smirk.

"Yeah," the native replied casually. "Have you being seeing the end of the world too?"

"Yes, actually," Joshua answered. "It's starting to get old, to be honest."

"Sounds we're in the same predicament then," the native stated, before spotting a certain orange-haired boy emerging from the underpass. "Though it shouldn't be long until my problem is solved. Care to watch?"

The other Joshua did not wait for the traveler's response, but instead drifted down to where Neku was walking, headphones blaring rock music. The blue-eyed boy looked up, stopped, and stared at the twin Joshuas.

"…This is _so_ not what I need today."

The other Joshua smiled.

"Neku! What a coincidence. I've been wanting to talk to you," the native greeted cheerfully, as his feet touched the cement. "Don't mind the other one, he's just visiting."

Joshua huffed at the trivial address. He would have preferred more of an introduction than _that_.

"Somehow this doesn't feel like a coincidence," Neku replied curtly, massaging his forehead.

"It doesn't?" the native asked almost innocently, smiling.

"No," Neku answered bluntly. "Look, can this wait until later? Otherwise I might puke in the middle of your grand speech."

"You're still not feeling well?"

"Not really…"

The traveler's eyes narrowed. This Neku was terribly flushed, and seemed a bit out of breath. Dark circles amplified his tired blue eyes.

His own Neku had been feeling ill when he had left his world. Would he become this sick too? Was he that sick already?

Between this and the mass consumption starting up, perhaps his dimensional traveling had been badly timed…a mistake, even…hopefully Sanae was holding down the fort without too much trouble.

"It's precisely because you're sick that I want to talk to you," the native stated.

"…I don't have to enter the Game again, do I?" Neku asked miserably.

The native laughed, startling Neku.

"No, Neku, you're not that sick," he assured, pushing a few gray strands behind his ear. "However…"

"However?"

"I suspect you have what the Reapers have got."

Neku froze.

"What?" he breathed.

The native smirked.

"You act like you just got diagnosed with cancer or something."

Neku swallowed.

"It…makes them mad. I don't want to go mad."

"It's only temporary madness. And besides…" the native assured, before sighing. "Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning."

He turned to the scenery beyond the bridge.

"First…well, first you die, I suppose, and then get invited into the Game…then you must find and pact with a partner if you want to survive the first day. You bond with that partner. Then you part, or perhaps not, depending on who wants to be alive and who wants to stay dead. But most likely you'll part. Consider them a crush. It almost never lasts."

Neku eyed the native suspiciously.

"So you become a Reaper," the native continued. "You'll probably pact with your shadow for awhile, maybe make some Noise into pets, but it's not the same. So you pact with another Reaper. A new relationship begins. You bond with your new partner, get even closer to them than your first partner. You're with them longer than a week, after all. Of course it might not be your first, second, or even third that you stay with. But you'll find somebody, or they'll find you."

"What does this have to do-"

"Patience, Neku," the native replied. "But you and your partner can't be equal forever. Eventually one must provide while the other leads. Will you swear to take the burden of your partner as well as yourself, or will you be the one who sacrifices in order to protect and support your partner?"

The other Joshua turned to Neku.

"What would you choose, Neku?"

"I…I dunno," he admitted. "But I still don't see-"

"Most don't know the answer, until that key moment," the native went on. "Put simply, The Reaper who agrees to the burden consumes. The Reaper who agrees to support is consumed. Together they evolve to the next stage."

"Wait, you mean they're _supposed_ to attack and absorb each other?!" Neku exclaimed.

"Yes," the native answered. "But like most who have never experienced it for themselves, you only see its ugly face. Hasn't anyone told you not to judge a book by its cover?"

Neku glared.

"Reapers, and to a lesser extent Players, are part Noise by nature," the native explained. "This personal Noise is created from your suppressed desires and emotions, and, being a Noise, is a malevolent being. Without a partner, their inner Noise will eventually overcome them and turn them into a full Noise. They become Boss Noise, to be exact."

"…So I've got a Noise inside of me?"

"Pretty much."

Neku groaned.

"…Okay, the Reapers I can understand. I mean, they've got tattoo wings and stuff," stated Neku, rubbing his forehead again. "…But how the hell does a Player get a Noise growing inside of them?"

"Well, when you're alive the Noise can possess you or be drawn to you, but it can't _live_ in you, can't _be_ you, because your Soul is too stable," the Composer went on. "Now when you die, as you might expect, your Soul initially becomes unstable. The great stress of the Game and your pact with your partner add to the instability. That volatile state of your Soul makes it very easy for a Noise to form and to become part of that Soul."

"So Shiki and the others-"

"Have their own inner Noise, most likely," stated the other Joshua. "I wouldn't worry about them, though. Their Noise isn't nearly as developed as yours. Trust me, you would know if they were."

Neku looked away.

"Anyway, it's impossible to beat it yourself, because it _is_ yourself, see? But if you bond with someone else, they can save you. Or you can save them, if you prefer. Either way, it takes an extraordinary amount of bravery and trust on both sides."

"But what about those Reapers who are attacking other Reapers at random? Those aren't long bonds of trust," Neku pointed out.

The other Joshua sighed.

"Those attacks aren't as random as you think. Evolving Reapers who have no partner seek out those they know best, such and friends and siblings. Often it is an inferior relationship, but that doesn't mean it can't work. It's just less likely to, and yet another reason to be involved in a strong partnership to start with."

He brushed a few curly hairs aside.

"…Which brings us to what I wanted to talk to you about."

"…And what's that?" Neku asked warily.

"This world is in danger of being erased."

"Erased?!" Neku shouted, straightening up. "What did you do now?!"

The traveler laughed.

"…Why must you assume everything's my fault?" the native replied, sighing, before shooting the traveler an annoyed glance.

"Because you're the Composer. You're in charge of everything here."

The native smiled and shook his head.

"Anyway, what we're dealing with is the Noise of Regalement," the native Joshua explained, turning his gaze back to the park below. "It is a Noise of mammoth proportions that lives to consume worlds. Greedy beyond bounds, it's said to exist to prevent overcrowding in the universe. Parallel dimensions multiply at an endless rate, after all. But I'd rather not lose this world to its massive appetite, would you?"

"Can't you stop it?! You're the Composer!"

The other Joshua smiled darkly.

"Yes, if I consume you."

Neku's breath caught.

The native smirked and leaned closer.

"…Does that scare you, Neku?"

Neku jerked back and glared at him.

"Now don't be like that," the native drawled. "Only by consuming you will I be to obtain the power needed to drive away the Noise of Regalement. I could force it, but things would progress much more smoothly if you let yourself be consumed without a struggle."

Neku took a step back.

"Now I understand if you need time to think about it. I just thought I'd warn you of what's to come. Give you a little time to prepare."

"…Why me?" Neku finally asked.

"Why you?" the indigo-eyed boy echoed, smirking. "The same reason I picked you as my proxy for my three-week Game with Megumi; you possess incredible Soul, Imagination, and potential. In fact, I made that Game specifically to refine that impressive power of yours."

"What? But I thought you made that Game to decide the fate of Shibuya!"

Of course. If I didn't bond with a worthy proxy, then the Noise of Regalement would swallow Shibuya. If I succeeded, I'd have a proxy to consume when the Noise of Regalement does come. It was very much about the fate of Shibuya."

"Then…you never planned to erase it yourself?"

"Not in the least," the Composer assured. "Megumi, though incredibly passionate and loyal, didn't possess nearly enough power to serve for consumption. He was the ruler used to measure your own power by the end of the three weeks. But I didn't want him to know that, so I told him I was fed up with Shibuya and wanted to erase it, unless he beat me in a special Game. Let him be erased with a sense of dignity."

"So you just used him," Neku growled. "Like you want to use me."

"Now Neku, end justifies the means," the native replied. "What are a few people compared to saving the world?"

He stretched.

"Well, that about sums things up. _You_ need to think about the world and how your noble sacrifice will save it. Of course, it's not noble unless it's voluntary."

Neku leered, and then began to walk away.

The native followed. So did the traveler.

Neku looked over his shoulder, kept walking, looked over his shoulder again, and stopped.

"…Do _both_ of you have to follow me?"

The native turned to the traveler.

"Perhaps you could _disappear_ for a little while?"

Taking the hint, the traveler smiled and raised his vibe to a level beyond Neku's detection. Neku, thinking the other had left, kept walking, though he kept a peeved eye on his native companion.

"Can't _you_ disappear too? Or are you going to stalk me to Scramble Crossing?"

They entered the darkness of Miyashita Underpass, welcomed by the wayward graffiti on the gray walls.

"What do you have to do at Scramble Crossing?"

"I'm meeting my friends there," Neku answered, as his headphones began to blare rock music again. "By the way, you don't count."

"I don't?" he asked with a smile. "Well I think we have much more important business than your _friends_ at the moment."

He snapped his fingers, and Neku's headphones started blasting an ethereal tune instead of rock.

Neku stopped, banged his headphones with the palm of his hand, and glared at the native.

"Dammit Joshua! Change it back!" he protested.

"You don't like it?" asked the native, smiling. "I wrote it myself."

"That's all the more reason not to…"

The traveler noticed how the orange-haired teen's eyes suddenly grew drowsy.

"…like it…"

The traveler chuckled.

_Of course. If you want to influence Neku, you can use his passion for music to your advantage._

The native ambled over to where Neku had halted.

"Nekuuu…" he drawled.

"Whaaaat?" the blue-eyed boy answered sluggishly, turning around slowly.

"You like this music now?"

"Uh-huh…"

The traveler vainly tried to suppress his laughter. Neku looked like he was high, with his pupils dilated and his body swaying slightly. Maybe he should snap a picture with his cellphone and show his own Neku later, to remind him of the dangers of drugs. Or of eating Mr. H's pumpkin soup on the wrong day.

"Neku, can you dance for me?" asked the native.

The normally surly teen began to dance without a question or protest, his movements slow and graceful to match the otherworldly melody pouring out of his headphones.

"Very good, Neku," Joshua praised, as if talking to a well-trained dog. "Now, this way."

The native began to walk the other way, Neku following in his dance-like manner. The traveler chuckled as he tagged along.

_If nothing else, this will be a nice distraction._

"Now Neku," the native began, not looking back. "You're scared of your Noise."

Neku paused, his eyes squinting as if he had trouble seeing.

"...Am not."

"You're a horrible liar Neku. Don't even try," the native replied casually. "No more lies, Neku. I want only the truth."

"…Fine."

"No more attitude either," the native added, as they began to cross the Miyashita Park bridge again.

"…Alright."

"So you're afraid of your Noise," the other Joshua went on. "Why?"

"I don't…I don't want to hurt anyone," Neku spoke quietly.

"You don't want to hurt anyone?" the native echoed, smirking. "But sometimes you have to hurt people. You can't make everyone happy. Sure, sometimes it required a little harsh verbal guidance, but in the end you've only helped the ones around you."

"But…everything's fine now…"

"Is it? Aside from the impeding end of the world, are you _really_ content with things the way they are now?"

Neku stopped.

"…No…"

The native smiled, also stopping. They were at the end of the bridge, just a few steps away from Cat Street.

"You feel a rage, don't you?" he asked, his expression unchanged. "Life is good, and yet you're angry. The slightest thing brings it up without warning. Either it whiplashes on you, or it strikes someone else. But they're not the source."

He turned around.

"It's your Noise. Your very own personal demon. You try to deny its existence, try to pretend that it's not there and that it's not interested in upsetting your meek little life and friends. But it is there. It's always been there, ever since you've died. Only now it's all grown up and wants to tear everything apart. Right?"

Neku shivered, as a red light flashed his pupils.

"You wouldn't want anyone to find out about _that_ side of you, would you?" the native went on quietly, walking over to Neku. "But I know. I know about that mad Noise of yours."

He stopped.

"But it's okay. I accept that monster of yours. Do you know why?"

A red light flared in the native's pupils.

"It's because I have my own inner demon," the Composer explained, the light slowly dimming back to black. "I know what's it's like to have a will separate from your own inside your body. A will you can barely control."

The traveler, hovering above, smirked.

_As if you really have no control over your Noise. You're the Composer. Your Noise was tamed long ago. Of course, Neku doesn't know that._

Neku began to step forward, but then he scuttled back like a frightened animal, breath quickened.

The native smiled.

"Why aren't you dancing, Neku?" he asked, red pinpoints burning in his pupils again. "Dance!"

The orange-haired teen began to a dramatic stop-and-start manner as the music in his headphones shifted to a slow but intense rhythm. His eyes, though still dilated, were widening with confusion and alarm.

"Oh? Are you just realizing you're not in control?" teased the native, darkly smirking. "Well, believe me when I say it's for your own good."

The native turned around and ambled forward.

"Well, time to visit Sanae."

IIIIII

"Welcome to WildKat. How can – oh, it's you guys," greeted Mr. H, as the two teens entered the coffee shop. "…Josh, leave Neku alone. Both of you."

"I have nothing to do with this. I'm just watching," the traveler assured, remaining at his higher vibe. There was no point in descending if the Angel's superior senses had already detected him.

The native snapped his fingers, turning off the headphone's music. Neku stumbled forward, his eyes clearing and pupils returning to normal. As soon as he regained his balance, he glared at the native.

"…If you _ever_ do that again," he growled. "…you are so DEAD!"

"I'm already dead, Neku," the native said calmly.

"Then I'll break you down to the last Soul particle!" Neku retorted, before turning to the black-haired man behind the counter. "…Anyway, thanks Mr. H."

"Why are you thanking him?" asked the native. "This is all his fault."

"What are you talking about?" asked Neku, before wincing and gripping his forehead.

"Yes, what are you talking about?" echoed the traveler, turning to the Angel. "Sanae…"

"I dunno. What'd I do?" asked Mr. H, rubbing the back of his head and smiling.

"Yeah," Neku added, bent over with one hand on a table. "What…What…"

Neku hit the floor with a thud.

"Neku!" exclaimed Mr. H, but the native stood in the way. The unconscious teen was levitated into the air behind him, as if being carried with invisible arms.

"…Stop screwing with me, Sanae," he hissed, a savage smile on his face and a bright scarlet light in his eyes. "What did you do to Neku?"

The traveler's own countenance became more somber.

"Hmm…"

Neku was placed carefully in a nearby chair, his head and arms resting on the countertop as if he had just fallen asleep. Mr. H's expression hardened.

"I never touched him," stated the Angel.

"Of course you didn't touch him. You didn't need to," the native responded, his smile returning to normal but his pupils still burning red. "You specialize in imprinting suggestions, through art or otherwise. Neku, as unstable and insecure as he is, is especially vulnerable to suggestions. You may not have been able to directly imprint on him because of the Player Pin's walling effect, but you could easily do so by using your artwork or anything else you gave him, like pins, or even coffee. Just "suggest" that he has no power, or to fear that power, and it's as good as putting a physical seal on him. Am I right?"

The traveler's eyes narrowed, waiting for Mr. H's response.

"…That's not quite it, but it's close enough," replied the Angel.

"Close enough?" asked the native. "Care to tell me the details?"

"You're bright, boss. I'm sure you can work it out on your own."

The native's smile grew vicious again, but then both his grin and his eyes became humanized as he took a deep breath and let it out.

"Well, it doesn't matter how you did it," he continued, brushing a few strands back. "I know you did it because you didn't want me to win that Game. You thought I was going to destroy Shibuya, after all, like everyone else. But I need you to release Neku's ability to evolve now, or else Shibuya really will be erased."

Mr. H remained quiet, and the native's smile slipped.

"You _can_ reverse it, right? I know you're not oblivious to the Noise of Regalement's impeding arrival."

Mr. H sighed.

"Yes I'm aware of it, and yes the imprinting can be reversed. In fact, Neku can reverse it himself, if he wants to," the Angel explained. "If he isn't evolving for you, then he doesn't want to evolve for you. There are several other Reapers on the verge of evolving. Consume one of them."

Both Joshuas were taken aback by his blunt words.

_It's true I could use someone else_, thought the traveler. _But I want Neku, and I'd rather not take the chances with a weaker Reaper anyway. Why is Sanae being so difficult? Unless…_

"You want to protect Neku from me," the native continued, regaining his smile. "That's why you blocked his power. You knew that I wanted to consume him eventually, even if you didn't know why."

The crimson light shone in his pupils again.

"Now why is that, Sanae?"

Mr. H sighed and shook his head.

"Now Josh, after you evolve and drive away the Noise of Regalement, what will happen to you, the Composer?"

"I'll ascend to the Angel Plane due to my high Soul level, I imagine."

"And who will rule in your place?"

The native started to speak, before a blank look came across his face. Then he laughed.

The traveler himself smiled.

_Who would I choose? I suppose the only real candidates at the moment are Kariya and Minamimoto…but Kariya despises large workloads, and I've already seen the results of a Shibuya under Minamimoto's influence…_

"I get it. You want Neku to be my heir," the native concluded. "He would make a fine Composer really. Of course you'll need to unlock his power to evolve, but I'll assume you'll remove the block once I'm up on the Angel Plane. The Composer also has to be dead. Mind if I suggest using a method other than poison?"

"I suppose you would shoot him. Again."

"It's quicker," the native answered. "Though you know this assumes that there is a Shibuya to rule after the Noise of Regalement comes to visit. And that there is a Neku left to rule it.

The native glanced at the unconscious Neku.

"So he can break the seal himself, you say? But will he break it in time, before his Noise consumes him? Even if the seal is broken, all the stress caused by the struggle would leave his body and Soul vulnerable to a Noise takeover. Is it worth the risk?"

Mr. H glanced at Neku, and then at the floor.

"Tell you what," the native went on. "Why don't we let Neku decide? Does he want to be a Composer on this plane, or an Angel on the Angel Plane? Break the seal on him, Sanae. If he chooses me, then he'll be ascending with me. If it's someone else, then I'll choose someone else and perhaps our evolved forms can fight side by side. How about it, Sanae? It's only a matter of days before the Regalement comes."

Mr. H rubbed his chin.

"…Alright boss. I'll undo the imprint. I need you to scram though. Both of you."

"Fair enough," the native replied, before turning to the traveler. "It doesn't count as a choice if Neku doesn't seek me out. Let's go."

Both Joshuas abandoned the WildKat.

IIIIII

The thought occurred to the traveler as they passed a junk heap near the Shibuya River. He began to laugh.

"What?" the native asked crossly, a red spark lighting briefly in his eyes.

"Minamimoto," the traveler replied, smiling. "He used Minamimoto as a tool to seal Neku's powers. Sanae taught everyone's favorite math whiz not just how to refine Taboo Noise, but how to imprint with art."

"Art? What art…?" asked the native, before passing another junk pile created by the Grim Heaper. "…Oh. But is it art?"

"To him it is, so it counts," the traveler went on. "Probably there's some Taboo power involved with the imprint, to amplify its effects."

"Now that I think of it, everyone seemed weaker when Minamimoto was the Game Master," the native replied. "And Neku always had severe headaches around Minamimoto as well. I wrote it off as a symptom his instability and memory repression, but…"

"But it was really a reaction caused by the imprint," the traveler stated. "And a Neku I observed elsewhere went through a similar exposure, and had similar results."

"So that explains that," replied the traveler.

Anyway, Sanae was using him as a counter to Neku and me. But Minamimoto's crazed actions caused him to fall out of favor with Sanae, while Neku's improvements impressed him. So he began to favor Neku instead, though he couldn't use him against me."

The traveler shook his head.

"Then, when he found Minamimoto's revival sigil, he screwed it up so the Grim Heaper couldn't access his Noise form, putting him in a similar situation to Neku."

"So Minamimoto only _thought_ his resurrection was successful."

"Pretty much," the traveler responded. "Either way I'll need to keep a closer eye on him when I get back."

"You let him live?"

"He's amusing. And good for an emergency."

"As in consumption?"

"Exactly. Though he makes a good scapegoat too."

IIIIII

The Room of Reckoning, the throne room of the Composer, was a black room. Three tall, flat pillars rose behind the throne itself, where the native sat. The traveler floated around boredly in the area's wide expanse.

"He's getting closer," stated the native, a feral smile curling his lips. He paid the traveler an annoyed glance, a faint scarlet spark in his eyes.

"You don't need to hang around if you don't want to. You've got your answer."

"But I _do_ want to hang around," the traveler answered with a smirk, turned almost upside down.

"…Fine," the native grumbled, turning away. "I suppose you want to know whether Neku will come here or not."

"Actually, I find _you_ the most interesting."

"Me?" the native asked skeptically.

"This isn't about saving the world for you, though it's a nice bonus," the traveler replied, gliding over to the other side of the throne. "This is about saving yourself."

"What are you talking about?" the native growled, the red shine in his eye burning brighter and his countenance growing more vicious.

"Your Noise. You're losing control over it, even though you should have absolute command of it," the traveler continued. "You don't even need to unlock Neku's seal; you just want to know the answer to Neku's lack of evolution. That, and you don't want Sanae or anyone else to know that your Noise is influencing you rather than the other way around."

The native glared. The traveler smiled.

"I thought we were similar, but actually we're quite different."

The native offered a primal grin.

"Who says we are so different?"

There was a growing shift in vibe.

"You feel that?" asked the traveler.

"Of course," the native replied, the feral smile still in place. "He's coming. I knew he would."

"Why would he choose you, instead of one of his friends?"

"You're me. You would know, wouldn't you?"

The traveler smirked.

"He's afraid of hurting his friends. He said so himself," the indigo-eyed foreigner stated, floating upward and then downward again. "But you're not a friend. He's not afraid of hurting you. He knows how impossible it is to hurt you. And you know about the Noise inside of him. Whom else could he turn to?"

"Well maybe Sanae, but he can't consume a divine being like him. Beside, Sanae's the inadvertent cause of his suffering, past and present. I doubt he trusts Sanae much right now, especially since he's released his dreaded Noise."

"My thoughts exactly," said the traveler.

The native turned to the open entrance.

In the darkness beyond the door, two red pinpoints of light burned.

The native's own pupils glowed crimson as the whites of his eyes darkened.

"Hello, Neku."

Neku glided out of the blackness, his human body being swallowed by bright red tattoos. His arms, already half transformed, ended in clawed hands linked by invisible joints, while sideways lightning bolt marks adorned his cheeks. Behind him a large tail swished, its edges shaped like long fur. His feet, changed up to the ankle had become large, dog-like, no, wolf-like paws.

But what were most interesting were the wings. They were not the bat-like wings of the Reapers, but wide and bird-like like his own, except that they were black instead of white.

Those wings were Composer-rank wings, despite, or maybe because, of the seal long imposed on his power. It was even better than Joshua had hoped for.

Perhaps Sanae knew what he was doing after all.

The wings of the native flashed into existence, sharp white feathers shining. He paid a Noise-eyed glance to the travel behind him.

"Things are about to get rather chaotic," he stated casually. "You might want to leave."

His smile turned savage, as white tattoos spread from the corner of his eyes.

"In fact, I insist."

The traveler floated back, smiling and holding his hands up in mild surrender. He knew his own limit, and this self would soon plummet past it.

"Fine. Have fun, my other self," the traveler replied, his voice fading as he himself evaporated away.

IIIIII

Waiting was going to be such a bore, the traveler thought, as he floated among the skyscrapers while the world trembled below. It wasn't a terribly strong earthquake, just the usual occurrence resulting from Composer-level skirmishes, enough to tumble things over and panic the general populace. To think ordinary people believe such shaking to be the result of volcanoes and shifting earth plates…

He caught a glimpse of something interesting.

Galloping through different streets were two Noise, one a purple horse and the other a yellow fox. He could tell instantly that the horse was Uzuki and the fox Kariya, apparently having consumed different Reapers instead of each other. Neither form was nearly as strong as when one had consumed the other, the traveler noted. But that wasn't what interested him.

Riding on Uzuki's back was Beat and his sister Rhyme, both bearing the same determined expression as the world below them quivered in fear. Aboard Kariya's back was Shiki, clearly worried but also brave-faced. Both groups seemed oblivious to the frightened people, and the frightened people seemed just as unaware of them, which suggested the valiant teens were traveling in the UG rather than the RG.

They were searching for Neku, he finally realized.

Of course their search would be in vain, as Neku was already locked in battle with his other self below the streets, a battle the blue-eyed teen was unlikely to win. Though he had surprising power, he had no experience in this kind of combat. For higher-level consumption, skill was just as important as strength.

Still, he admired their loyalty. He was fascinated by it, really. It proved Neku's value.

He almost felt bad about the whole ordeal, and the one to come. Almost.

IIIIII

"…You're a brutal one, you know," said the traveler, standing on one of the neighboring buildings of the 104 Building as he watched the sunset. "I've been called a diabolical bastard during my trips, but I can only imagine what they would call _you_."

The native, curled up on top of the 104 Building, said nothing, also watching the end of the day. The coiled form of the silver mink Noise took up the entire rooftop, its scythe-like claws resting on the edges.

Its sinewy body was comprised almost entirely of interwoven white-to-silver tattoos, its flesh mostly hidden inside the armory marks. The long, flowing mane was red, and seemed to float as if it was made of fire.

"Dealing with Neku? I can only imagine how angry he is now."

The mink remained silent and immoveable. The traveler gave it an annoyed look.

"Hello?"

The mink gave a surprised bark, and turned its gaze to the traveler. The tattoos abruptly retreated and reformed into real silver wings with real silver feathers. The boy revealed had straight white hair with sapphire blue eyes.

"Ah, sorry about that," he replied, smiling casually. "I got struck in the middle of a vision, and then I had to explain things to Neku. You know how complicated clairvoyance can be to explain."

"Indeed," the traveler answered. "What did you see, by the way?"

"Shiki beating Rhyme at Tin Pin, and Uzuki getting into an argument with Kariya over a bet, probably about said Tin Pin game."

"In other words, life goes on," the traveler concluded. "And your world will go on after the Noise of Regalement comes to visit."

"It appears so," answered the white-haired boy. "See Neku? Wasn't that worth your sacrifice?"

The native was quiet, apparently listening to the reply, and he laughed.

"Well I must get going, my other self," spoke the traveler, starting to drift away. "I have my own world to attend to, after all."

"Have fun, younger self."

"Younger?" asked the traveler with indignity.

"Well you've yet to evolve, and I have, which makes me your future self," replied the native with a smirk. "And you know you should respect your elders."

"Since when have I ever respected elders since I've died?"

"…You've got a point."

Smirking, the traveler elevated himself out of the world. Finally, he could go home.

_IIIIII_

_I know the main Joshua doesn't do much in this chapter, but he'll be plenty busy in the final one. It's in his world, after all. I hope all the explanations make sense._

_Next time : (De)Fault - Joshua vs Neku!_

_Btw, the next chapter's title and this chapter's title (Grace, Period) share a connection, beside the weird punctuation. Can you figure out what it is? Hint: It may take a college student to understand, but not because of their smarts XP._

_As a side note, I have an unrelated TWEWY one-shot coming out in a few days, The Cat and the Mink, so keep an eye out for it if you're interested._

_Cya!_


	5. DeFault: Joshua vs Neku

_Well, it's finally here: the last chapter of NoR. It's shorter than the last two have been, ironically. I'd like to thank RikuAura777, The Phantom Gamer, and DigitalPhantom for beta'ing this. You guys are awesome. I also thank all of you who have read up to this point, reviewed, fave'd, alerted, etc._

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own TWEWY. I'd probably be overthrown by Minamimoto anyway, 'cause I suck at math, and then HE'D be in charge and everything would go to hell...kinda like Chapter 3. _

_IIIIII_

_"News is important information that may influence your investments. Noise is talk or buzz or some headline that prevents you from seeing a story clearly. News is useful. Noise is a distraction. Calling what's noise and news after the fact is easy." __–Maria Bartiromo_

_"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of the living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress." –Bruce Barton_

**Scale 5: (De)Fault**

The traveler materialized in the Dead God's Pad, _his_ Dead God's Pad, for he was no longer a traveler, but a native. The shadows of fish swam carelessly beneath the glass floor as his feet kissed the cold reflective surface. Joshua smiled.

The problem was finally solved. All he needed to do was have a few persuasive words with Sanae, and Neku's power would be free for him to consume. The vision of the Noise of Regalement would stay as a vision, soon to be erased by other, more petty predictions.

But first he would have to rest, whether he wanted to or not. Traveling was rough on the body, after all.

Joshua felt a throbbing in his limbs and in his head. He leaned on a nearby table, holding his forehead.

_Here we go._

When the pounding in his head lessened, he straightened up again…only to have a sharper, greater pain stab his mind like a fang.

"What…" he hissed, leaning on the table again and clutching his head.

He flinched at each bite of pain, each stronger and sooner than the last.

"What…is this…?"

There were no more intervals, only an unrelenting, torturing pressure behind his eyes. The room was whirling.

"What…"

An ethereal cry shrieked inside his head, and Joshua felt his senses being torn apart and devoured.

IIIIII

He woke up on the cold glass floor, his body both burning and freezing. Mr. H hovered over him, his expression full of concern.

"Sanae…" Joshua croaked.

"Can you get up?" asked the Angel.

Joshua pushed himself up into a sitting position. He glanced at the glass floor and saw his pale reflection, his curly hair now a damp, stringy mess. His head was throbbing, though it was a blunt pounding instead of the sharp stabbing from before.

"I…I'm alright…" he insisted, as his body began to shiver.

"You don't look alright to me," Mr. H replied, his face stern. "If anything, you look like you're going to pass out again. You're white as a sheet."

"S-Shut up…" he retorted, only vaguely regretting the harsh words. His dull headache was becoming a stabbing migraine again, making everything too loud and too bright, and the pain was leaking down his spine and his back…_His back!_

Joshua doubled over, his eyes squeezed shut as his body shook more violently.

"Josh! Josh, what's wrong?!" Mr. H called out, the Angel's expression escalating from concern to alarm.

Joshua alternated between gulping and gasping, unable to speak as the torrid pain built up in his back. But what was worse was that he _knew_ this kind of pain. The stabbing migraine was new, but the mounting pain in his back was all too familiar.

The Composer cried out as his wings abruptly erupted from his body, straight out and trembling. He felt himself being caught by the Angel beside him as the room started whirling again.

Panting, Joshua opened his eyes to see red light in the eyes of his reflection.

Joshua stared at his altered double, now with flickering white wings and crimson sparks burning in the eyes. Then he began to feel a rhythm humming in his bones, like he was before a concert speaker on full blast. That too was a familiar sign.

"Can't…I can't be…"

But there was no denying it. He was evolving. But how could he be evolving? He was the Composer, in total command of his Noise. Then again, that last self also had problems with his Noise…

"Hang in there, Josh. You need to stay awake."

Joshua felt himself being picked up and carried over to the couch, where he was carefully laid on his stomach. He winced as pain coursed through his wings and back, and buried his face into the end pillows.

He hated it, hated this weakness. It was like being back on the drugs at the hospital, reality shifting in and out of focus. And this evolution _hurt_. Not even the First had been this bad. Was it because he was so exhausted from all the traveling?

Had the Noise been counting on that?

Joshua heard the mink screech in his head, reinforcing the rhythm's vibrations inside of him. His body began to tremble from another sudden onslaught of chills.

"Sanae…" he spoke up, turning his face to the Angel despite the screeching and humming in his head. "…Don't you think I should be consuming someone rather than lying here?"

"It's best if we can hold your power back for now," Mr. H explained, as he laid his hand over Joshua's burning forehead. "Composer evolution is rare, since either the Composer ascends or is erased before it occurs. On the occasions where it does occur, normally the Composer consumes the Conductor or another high-ranking Reaper. But right now we don't have Conductor or any other powerful Reaper because they got erased in the last Game."

He held his hand over Joshua, and a white glow began to diffuse from it. The humming and chill inside of him lessened.

"Your Noise is too dangerous to unleash in its current state," the Angel went on. "Without powerful Reapers to consume, it might take the majority of Shibuya to satisfy it. It's important that we maintain control of it until we can find a good candidate for it."

Joshua felt his face distort into a savage smile as more pain shot through his wings.

_Of course, we could just being Neku here. We don't even have to worry about his seal if I'm the one evolving. It'll be quicker that way._

His expression grew more sober as the sharp pain melted into a duller one. The warmth of the light was making him drowsy.

_…But not now. Not like this. I want to consume him my way and at my own pace, not the Noise's. My Noise would tear him apart. I need him to understand…_

Joshua felt himself shivering again as the diluted pain radiated from his back to his sides. He could barely keep his eyes open. The Angel's light, the careless fish, everything around him was smearing together like wet paint.

_Neku…_

His burning eyes fell shut, reducing everything to blackness and heat.

"Hey, stay with me here, Josh. Josh!"

IIIIII

Everything was black. There was no sky, no earth, just darkness enveloping everything. There was nothing else, except Joshua and the mink.

Both were sinking, Joshua struggling in the coils and claws of the white, sinewy creature. Its maw was latched on his right shoulder, chewing on it messily.

"Let me go!" he demanded, squirming and glaring at the monster. "You are my Noise! You _will_ obey me!"

The ivory beast eyed him with its pinpoint red pupils, and then let go of his shoulder. Then it began to hiss in an amused manner.

"And just what do you find so funny?" he asked, annoyed and wary.

The mink threw its head up, and its hissing became wheezing laughter.

"Hey! Listen to-" he began, before he noticed the laughter once again changing. It was quickly losing its rasping, unmasking a clear, young voice. His voice.

Its form also changed, the serpentine body shrinking and reforming into a human figure, the glowing white form that Joshua normally commanded it to take.

The white Noise's laughter descended into dark chuckles. It turned to Joshua, scarlet light shining bright in its black eyes as the face sneered.

"Fool," it spoke, taking on the exact appearance of Joshua in a manner of seconds. "Did you really think you were ever in control?"

Suddenly the other Joshua dived into the first, filling every inch of his body. He barely had the time to comprehend it before convulsions wracked his frame.

"Get out!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around himself as he began to shake uncontrollably. "Get…out! Get…out…"

He felt himself drifting down, himself and not himself.

_"Why…Why…can't I…?"_

**_You never could_, **the voice in his head spoke, thought it seemed like it had whispered into his ear instead. **_Don't you realize that?_**

Joshua eyes closed tight as he shivered more, his body becoming like ice.

"No…can't be…"

**Ah, but you are. You –**

Joshua felt himself curl into a fetal position.

**- Are -**

His breath was frosted.

"Mine!" Joshua heard himself exclaim, as his body went numb.

The darkness loomed ever closer, as Joshua remain unable to move, unable to speak.

He felt his mouth twist into a bestial grin.

"I will enjoy consuming Neku," the other taunted. "And everyone else. And everyone else beyond that."

Joshua would have shuddered, shouted, anything, if he had any control of his body.

How could he have been so stupid? The Noise of Regalement…the one he had seen in that other world had been wide, whale-like. But the other one, the one he kept seeing in his visions…it wasn't the same. The other was more lithe, snake-like, _mink-like_.

_Hell…Oh, Hell…_

He felt the darkness close around him, the greedy force getting ready to swallow him.

His eyes closed, though it made no difference in the ebony space.

_I…screwed up. I…really…screwed up…_

Blackness nibbled away at his senses.

_Someone…Anyone…_

IIIIII

"Joshua!"

The gray-haired boy's eyes flickered open, seeing nothing but a watery figure of orange, purple, yellow, and white surrounded by black, panting. The intense burning in his eyes flared up, and the humming rhythm became a roaring.

"Neku!" he heard Mr. H call out, though his voice seemed far away.

"Neku…" Joshua echoed hoarsely. "This…isn't really the best time…"

The blurred figure, now coming into focus, spent a few more moments catching his breath.

"I…I felt that something was wrong," Neku began, straightening. "Looks like I was right. Hell, looks like you've got what the Reapers got."

Joshua felt a primal grin slip over his face.

"Very good, Neku," he heard himself say, speaking in a slow, deliberate style. "How kind of you to visit."

Neku's expression hardened.

Joshua felt himself start to levitate, as if strings were lifting his body.

"How very _brave_ of you, Neku."

"Joshua!" exclaimed Mr. H, before turning to orange-haired teen in the doorway. "Neku, get outta here!"

The indigo-eyed boy glared, the whites of his eyes turning black.

"Out of my way, _Angel_."

One white wing swooped down and slammed Mr. H onto the glass floor, his sunglasses and consciousness shattering on contact. The sharp feathers had left several bleeding cuts and gashes on his body.

"Mr. H!" Neku shouted.

"Don't worry, Neku. It'll take more than that to take down an Angel," the gray-maned Composer stated, the edges of one wing lined with shiny scarlet. "But it should keep him out of the way for a bit."

Neku glared.

"Aren't you going to run?" the Noise-eyed boy asked, floating over to Neku unsteadily. "It's really more fun if I get to chase you first."

Neku walked into the room instead.

"Like hell I'm going to do what you want me to do."

The Composer sneered.

"What makes you think you have a choice?" he asked, gliding around Neku in an almost dance-like way. "Do you forget that I rule Shibuya? That I'm its _god_?"

Neku stayed silent.

"But I suppose you don't understand anything, do you?" the white-winged being went on, his hand absentmindedly tugging at his shirt collar. "Domination, submission, consumption, evolution, perfection. No one has told you anything."

He grabbed the front of Neku's purple hoodie, pulling him forward.

"Right?"

Neku leered at the Composer.

"Let go."

"Why should I?"

Neku smacked his hand away.

"I said let go."

The gray-maned boy's eyes widened, holding the stricken hand like it had been cut.

"You're the one who doesn't understand anything," said Neku.

The white-winged being snarled, silver-white tattoos seeping out of the corners of his eyes.

"You think you can lecture me, _human_?!"

Long white-silver tattoos erupted from the left side of his chest in long wild filaments. Some snaked around his legs, binding them together, while others wound around his arms and bound them to his white wings. The tattoos intertwined with the wings and fused with them, morphing the outermost feathers into long scythes.

The Composer held his head up, a sinister grin on his face.

Red tattoos began to creep across Neku's body, but then a black aura abruptly surrounded Neku, and he cried out. He staggered back, his form barely seen for all the darkness.

The half-Noise sneered.

"You can't even fight yourself."

The ebony energy swelled, becoming like an orb. The glass floor below him cracked, the shadowy fish eagerly gathering just below the surface.

The white-winged being furrowed his brows, his sneer reduced to a dark smile.

"Well well…"

The obsidian miasma and glass floor burst open as Neku rocketed forward, black wings fully spread and scarlet tattoos transforming his limbs into that of a wolf's. The mink-like Composer, still smiling, teleported out of the way at the last second, reappearing to the side. Neku spun around right before he hit the wall, Noise eyes glaring at the other winged being.

The Composer smirked, as the loose water flowed below him. The fish, made almost entirely of purple-blue tattoos, jumped and splashed among the fragmented floor.

The water and commotion bought Mr. H back to consciousness. He sat up, winced from his wounds, and noticed the orange-haired teen in his half-Noise form.

"Neku…"

The black-winged being glanced at the Angel.

"…Get outta here. I don't think you wanna see this."

Mr. H stayed silent, looking from one teen to the other, and then vanished, leaving behind only his broken sunglasses.

The two sharp-winged beings turned to each other. The Composer smiled.

"Ready?"

Neku swatted one of the Noise fish away.

"What do you think?"

The half-Noise Composer laughed.

"Always so serious. Don't you realize this is a _game_?"

Both charged forward.

IIIIII

Beat had come to the top of the 104 Building to escape the doldrums of Shiki and Rhyme's shopping spree. He had never been one for fashion, even if certain styles _were_ better for battle than others.

Finding Mr. H injured and bleeding on the roof with his soft white wings akimbo, however, was _not_ the kind of excitement he had been looking for. All he wanted was a nap, really…

"Mr. H! What the hell happened?!" he exclaimed, rushing over.

The Angel gave the shocked Beat a poignant smile as he continued to nurse his wounds.

"I wish I knew, really."

Beat scrutinized the cuts and bruises. His expression grew angry.

"Hell, man…"

"It ain't as bad as it looks," Mr. H assured. "Just flesh wounds, that's all. I've had worse."

"Didja get attacked by a Reaper?" asked Beat. "They're all messed up these days, them Reapers. Dunno what's wrong with 'em."

Mr. H paused, and then he smirked.

"Close enough."

"Close enough?" questioned Beat. "Either it was a Reaper or it ain't!"

Mr. H sighed.

"…I wonder if I did something wrong," the Angel mused. "…Or if something like this was going to happen anyway."

"Huh? Whacha babbling about? Yo, you ain't getting delphinium are you?"

"It's delirium," Mr. H corrected with a smirk, as he finished treating his wounds. "And no."

The ground, and therefore the building, began to shake, causing Beat to fall over. The Angel, already sitting, had no such problem.

"Bwaah!" the large teen exclaimed. "An earthquake?!"

"…Looks like it's started," noted the Angel.

"Wha?"

IIIIII

Elsewhere, Minamimoto curses the Composer for wrecking his perfect pile of junk with his earthquake. Now he will have to completely recalculate his mathematical formula of assemblage…

IIIIII

The below was bedlam.

Demonic tornados filled with trashed cars and ruined bicycles collided with walls of white flame on the cement shores of the Shibuya River, where the free Noise fish swarmed and snapped. Possessed objects darted everywhere, slamming into walls and each other, while clashing with the elements of lightning and levitating rocks. The underground itself trembled as it was torn and scarred.

In the storm of clashing powers the two half-Noise warred, their figures blurred by their speed and smoky dust.

"Predictable," the mink fiend taunted, evading a series of lightning strikes before firing a rain of light. "Certainly you can do better than that."

The wolf beast snarled as he jumped away from the storm of radiance.

"You know, I'm getting really sick of your mouth," he growled, launching a stream of pallid flame. "Actually, I'm getting really sick of you in general!"

The mink fiend summoned a vending machine to take the brunt of the attack. However, he wasn't prepared for the swift velocity attack immediately afterward, which sent him lurching through the air. He regained control before hitting the wall and straightened himself out, and dove down toward the wolf beast. The majority of the attack was evaded, but the wolf beast was cut on the arm by one of the sharp wing tips. The area struck flickered violently before fading down to an unsteady static sputter.

"I wish I could just turn my back on you," spoke the wolf beast, weaving through a barrage of demented cars and wrecked computers. "Because that's the last thing you want me to do. But I can't, because everyone else's fate is tied to yours. If you go mad, Shibuya goes mad."

The mink fiend grinned.

"That's what will be fun. Together my world will conquer and consume the other worlds, until all the worlds are my world, and then I'll take even the Angel's world! Then everything will be mine!"

"Like I'm going to let you tear my world apart!" the wolf beast yelled, cloaking himself in a burning aura to shield against the rogue tempest of metal objects. "Because this isn't about you! This is about everyone else!"

The wolf beast rammed into the mink fiend, slamming him into the wall. He used his sharp black wings to pin the other's white wings to the wall, purposely avoiding where the other's arms were entangled. The mink fiend roared and snarled.

"…Game Over, Joshua," Neku spoke, as he placed one clawed hand over the other's heart, the source of the serpentine lines of white-silver tattoos. The hand shone a scarlet light at first, and then a white light.

The mink fiend screeched as he was devoured by the ivory blaze.

IIIIII

"…Whoa, that was scary! You alright, Rhyme?"

"Yeah…."

Rhyme was not dressed in her usual baggy clothes, but in a close-fitting aqua tank-top with dark jeans that clung to her hips. None of those clothes belonged to her, yet, tags hanging from the clothes like tacky jewelry.

"It's been awhile since we've had an earthquake," Shiki noted, she herself inspecting the price tag of a bracelet on her arm. "We should go. There might be aftershocks."

"Okay, just let me take these off."

"You gonna get any of them?"

"I dunno…maybe later," Rhyme replied, as she began to go back to the changing room. "…Hey, Shiki?"

"Yeah?"

"When everything started shaking…did you think of Neku?"

Shiki's eyes widened.

"Now that you mention it…"

IIIIII

"Kariya?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me you could predict earthquakes?!" Uzuki snapped. She was sprawled all over the ground, her face and hair swathed with greasy ramen noodles.

"I told you to hold on to the counter," Kariya answered with a sigh, still sitting in his seat at the Ramen Don. "…Sorry about all the commotion, Mr. Doi."

"Hey, you aren't the one who caused the earthquake," the ramen master answered, picking up fallen dishes and supplies. "Though I suspect I know who did…"

He walked off, muttering someone about a scrawny little brat.

"Huh? Aren't earthquakes natural?" asked Uzuki, picking the remains of her meal out of her hair. "…How much does that guy know, anyway?"

"Considering he's a reincarnated Player and this is a popular Reaper spot, quite a lot," Kariya answered, downing the last of his meal. "…But anyway, most earthquakes are caused by the Composer when he fights a challenger. At least, that's how it is around here."

"So now the Composer has erased another rival?"

"Quite the contrary," Kariya replied. "It seems we have a new Composer."

IIIIII

Joshua woke up in Neku's arms, draped over his right shoulder. The two of them were in the air, the broken ground so far below. Everything was going in and out of focus, colored in shades of blue.

Everything was tinted blue, he slowly realized, because he was shrouded in a blue energy, the aura of consumption. And those jagged pieces of Noise falling and breaking, he noticed numbly, those were the remains of his Noise. It was so quiet.

His wings…he gazed over to see them shattered and charred to a dark ashen hue. Most of the feathers were gone, the few left hanging loosely by unseen filaments. One wing had lost half of itself.

His arms, though flickering severely, were free of the wings, the few lingering tattoos peeling off his limp limbs like old paint. His legs too were liberated, except for a single slack tattoo spiral. After a couple of moments, even that tattered remnant fell away.

He tried to lift his head to see the other's face, but then it sunk back down. He had never felt so tired.

"It's…not fair…" Joshua murmured, his indigo eyes slowly slipping shut. "Damn you…Neku…"

IIIIII

The new Composer's indigo eyes blazed with irritation.

"Something wrong boss?" asked Mr. H, who stood next to him on top of the 104 Building.

"Will you stop calling me that?" replied the golden-haired boy, glancing at the Angel. "Feels weird as hell."

Mr. H laughed.

"I'll try to remember," he replied, reaching to adjust his sunglasses only to find them not there. He had yet to replace the broken ones.

The fair-haired teen sighed as he watched the usual traffic of people scurry below.

"So, what's the matter? Josh bothering you?"

"…He's been pretty quiet actually," the new Composer replied, smirking a little. "I think he's still in shock that I beat him. He'll probably start nagging and babbling nonstop before long, knowing him."

Mr. H chuckled.

"…It's strange," the indigo-eyed boy mused, looking up at the sky. "When I was a Player, I wanted to change everything. The Game, the Noise, the Reapers, everything. But now that I've become the Composer, I don't want to change anything, even the Noise. The whole system is ugly, but it works beautifully. I understand that now."

He smirked.

"Though I still don't forgive Joshua for getting me into this whole mess in the first place."

Mr. H laughed again.

"Is downstairs all fixed up?" the Angel asked.

"Yeah, finally," the yellow-haired boy answered. "Took me all week. I can finally visit Shiki and Beat and everyone else."

His expression sobered.

"I'm not going to be able to see them much anymore. Being Composer isn't as easy as Joshua made it look. It takes forever just to tune everything, and I haven't even run a Game yet…if I don't ascend first."

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Mr. H assured.

"I know I should do okay. It's just…" the new Composer began. "Well, I finally learn to open up and have friends, have a life, and now I'm stuck in the loner's role again. It just doesn't seem fair."

"It's not as lonesome as you think," the Angel assured. "You're connected to everyone, and everyone is connected to you. Listen to their voices, and you'll know which way to turn."

The indigo-eyed teen smiled.

"And what if they're wrong?"

"Then it's up to you to guide them."

The golden-haired boy stood up.

"Somehow that sounds easier said than done."

Golden wings, real golden wings with real feathers, fanned out from his back.

"But I guess I'll manage somehow."

Orange and purple tattoos engulfed him, the ethereal lines transmuting him into a humanoid lupine form. The mane of white tattoo fire was complemented by a tip of similar tattoo flame at the tip of his long tail. Red pinpoints of light burned from within the mask of tattoos that made up his long muzzle.

"Feel like showing off?" asked Mr. H, smirking.

"Feel like giving Beat a good scare when I get there. He hasn't seen my Noise form yet."

The Angel chortled.

"You do that. Just don't blame me if he whacks you with his skateboard."

"He can try. I'll be in the UG."

The Angel shook his head as the wolf Noise leapt down into the oblivious crowd below, where he vanished.

"Well, it all works out in the end, somehow," he mused, spreading his own wings in preparation for take-off. "I suppose in order to be reborn, you have to die first. Why do we always forget that?"

_IIIIII_

_...Wow, it's actually done. I've completed bigger things, but still...such an epic little thing this was, contradicting as that sounds. Just goes to show that you don't need 10 or 20 chapters to get that epic feeling. And this was supposed to be a one-shot XD._

_For those curious, delphinium is a genus of perennial plants of the crowfoot with spurred flowers that are usually blue. Why Beat knows that word, I have no idea. I guess Rhyme told him XP._

_Btw, I am currently running a TWEWY one-shot contest on one of the forums. Check here for details : _

.net/topic/60575/17000061/1/#17426832

_Anyway, it's been a blast writing this, and I hope you guys have had a blast reading it._

_Cya!_


End file.
